Life As We Know It
by iluvaqt and Miranda Aurelia
Summary: Some things in life can never be planned for. Chlollie.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Life as We Know It  
**Pairing:** Chloe/Oliver, Clark/Lois  
**Summary:** Somethings in life can never be planned for.  
**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: This fic is loosely based on the Katherine Heigl/Josh Duhamel movie "_Life as We Know It_".

**:::**

**Preface**  
_Lois Lane's POV_

This story is about two of my closest friends. Well one of them is more like a sister to me. I grew up with her, she's my baby cousin. Well my only cousin. My Mom was an only child and Dad and his sister, my aunt Moira were raised army brats. Their dad was a three-star General too.

Aunt Moira left home as soon as she was legal and never looked back. She and Dad didn't really keep in touch, but when Mom died, they got close again. I think Dad wouldn't have known what do to with us if it weren't for Uncle Gabe and Aunt Moira. Dad was able to return the favor when Aunt Moira got sick and left. Chloe didn't understand, and neither did I really at the time. She hadn't looked sick to us. She just, well disappeared.

So we got each other through our elementary and high school years, survived puberty, cruel clicks and stupid boys. We both went to MetU and that's where I met Clark, who I'd already heard a lot about from Chloe when she stayed for summers with us.

We couldn't be more opposite but there was something about him, his old school charm, those baby blues that I find terribly hard to resist and that cute farm-boy grin. He couldn't be more hick if he tried, but he just fit right in and our awesome pair, became a trio of trouble.

It wasn't till we started dating that I learned my country boy, wasn't your average man. It wasn't the curious disappearances or Chloe's plausible, yet too frequent excuses covering for him either that peaked my reporter's instincts, no, it was when he kissed me after one of his many saves as Superman, probably lost in the moment, relieved I was safe, forgetting that he wasn't Clark to me, the Clark that he'd always shown me anyway. After all, a kiss is like a fingerprint. Everyone has their own distinct way and Clark, well let me tell you, Clark can literally sweep a girl of her feet and make her tingle from head to toe.

If I'd waited for him to come out and tell me, I might still be waiting. Instead I called him on it the second he was back as his mild-manner-alter-ego and the rest is history. So my guy is both Superman, World's Greatest Superhero, and Clark Kent, regular-joe city reporter. I love them both. Married them both and I'm probably the happiest, luckiest woman alive. And I want that for my cousin. I want that for Chloe. I know she let Clark go a long time ago, but even though she gave us her blessing before we officially started dating in college, I know she still wishes, sometimes, that it could have been them instead of us instead. Not that she still loves him that way, but I know she wants what we have.

So I see these two blond heads in my living room, sitting on the floor playing with my six-month-old daughter the idea comes together all on its own. Clark and I still haven't gotten around to making our Will but looking at Elara, I know it's on the top of my to-do list.

My first attempt at getting these two stubborn, workaholics, jaded by past love and family tragedy to notice each other failed miserably. The second was even worse. If only they could see themselves through my eyes. They're so alike it's scary. So they might not have exactly the same goals or even like the same things, but inside, what makes them tick; I haven't seen two people that fit so well, oh well there's Clark and I but even our Yin and Yang needed help meeting in the beginning.

I nod to myself right then and there, that this is the answer. They don't know it yet, but they have just become Elara Martha Kent's godparents. Like it or not, they're stuck with each other. Once we get it in writing and I present them with the legal document, as godparents they'll be obligated to be present for every birthday, developmental milestone and graduation. Not that I wouldn't have expected them to be anyway. Even though Oliver lives in Star City, he visits the Metropolis branch of his company frequently and always makes time to stop by. They'll come around eventually. My two best friends who are destined to be each others soul-mates.

Guess I didn't know then just how soon they'd have to raise to the challenge, and just how much that one little decision would change all our lives forever.

.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Chloe watched her cousin in the large dresser mirror. Jimmy was pulling double duty. He was the official camera man and a groomsman. He took pictures of the guys getting ready earlier, then drove over to the chapel bridal suite to take pictures of Lois and the girls getting ready. Lois was a ball of nervous energy, she was even more unsettled than she normally was. It wasn't that she had any doubts that she was marrying the man of her dreams, no, Chloe knew the real reason that Lois was fixing her veil and tiara for the fifth time. Lois wanted everything to be perfect, and she was so worried something was going to happen to ruin the day. Something along the lines of Superman having to deal with a critical crisis, having to pull out in the middle of their vows.

"Lois, breathe." Chloe walked over took the veil from her cousin's hands, and took both of them in her own. She meet Lois' eyes in the mirror. "Today is as important to Clark as it is to you. Nothing short of the world ending or this chapel falling down around us is going to keep him away from you. And I have a feeling that he might have even called in a favor with some of his superfriends to cover for him today. Now if I have to tie you down, so I don't have to do your hair for a second time, I will. You keep re arranging the combs and you're going to mess up your half up-do again. So please, take a deep breathe and let it out slowly. You look beautiful, the chapel looks like the foyer of the Bellagio and you're marrying your soul mate today."

At the last part, Lois beamed and Chloe smiled along with her. Lois squeezed her hands excitedly and let out a little happy squeal. She pulled Chloe down and hugged her tightly. Chloe chuckled at her bubbly enthusiasm and Lois reluctantly released her.

Lois tabbed her eyes with a tissue and looked at Chloe seriously. "I know when we were kids we promised we'd get married together and we'd only get married when we met our soul mates, but Chloe, if I waited for you, I think I'd be old and gray. The last semi-serious boyfriend you had we were in our freshmen year of college. All of your other guys haven't lasted more than three weeks.

"Can we please not discuss my non-existent love life today," Chloe said, rolling her eyes.

Lois squeezed her hand again. "What I'm trying to say is that he is out there, Chloe. Borrowing some wise words from a special lady I'm soon to call my Mom, sometimes you're just going around with your eyes closed. Stop looking for Mr. Perfect and let him find you."

"I haven't been looking, you know my work is important to me. Like I have the time to go man hunting."

Lois gave her a pointed look. "You know that's not what I meant. You have a list."

"I do not have a list," Chloe said incredulous.

"A mental list. Who said it was written down, Miss I-Have-A-Photographic-Memory. Has to be tall, cause you don't want your short genes to survive another generation."

Chloe stuck her tongue out at that. "It puts you in good stead to be taller than average and not shorter than average," Chloe pointed out.

"Has to have a college degree from one of the top ten universities in the country?" Lois continued, as though she hadn't spoke at all.

"So I have standards. It shows a level of commitment, both from the parents to have saved enough to send them to a good college, in which case they'll learn that trait by example, or they're just that self motivated and smart to have gotten there all there and worked through it all on their own."

"Must be passionate about a humanitarian charity..."

"That one is only because I met Dustin, who was passionate about abolishing GM foods. People are dying of starvation or AIDs every three seconds and he's worried about seeds that were tweaked in a lab. The FDA wouldn't allow it to hit markets if it was dangerous for human consumption. These people need food, and clean water, I'm sure they wouldn't care at all that it started out in less than natural circumstances."

Lois waved her hands in surrender. "I'm just saying, that you have criteria and you write guys off in the first five minutes of getting to know them if there's even just one little thing you don't think fits this mental image you have."

"I know no one's perfect, Lo. I just want someone who's not going to try to change me or who'll drive me crazy after a year." Like Clark, she added silently. She'd reconciled to the truth that they'd never be together, that her best friend just didn't see her that way, but it didn't make it hurt any less that he'd found his perfect match in her cousin. It would have been a lot easier to swallow if it had been some stranger she didn't know at all, and maybe if that relationship had meant they slowly grew apart, but he was marrying her cousin and she saw them everyday. They all worked in the same building, on the same floor and she even saw them sometimes on weekends. Love sucked. But she couldn't wish happiness for two more deserving people, and they really did compliment each other. Clark finally found someone who accepted every facet of him, not that she didn't, just someone he was interested in romantically.

Lois gave her a sympathetic look, as though reading her thoughts and Chloe felt more pitiful than before. She mustered up her brightest sincere smile. "I'm so happy you have each other, really. We've been over this so many times, it's getting old."

"I know, it'd just be easier if I knew you were happy too."

Chloe sighed. "Oh Lo, I am happy. I have my dream job. For as long as I can remember I always wanted to work under that gold spinning globe and become a Pulitzer winning journalist."

"And you got both," Lois said with a proud smile.

"Yeah I did," Chloe said straightening.

Lois stood and hugged her impulsively, blinking back more tears. Despite her bravado Lois knew that Chloe was lonely, although she'd never admit it to another living soul. "He'll show up, cuz. He'll show up and he'll sweep you off your feet. You won't know what hit you."

**:::**

Walking up the aisle to piano styling of Johann Sebastian Bach, Chloe suddenly felt completely unprepared to have every eye on her, and again found strength and confidence in the eyes of Clark Kent. He smiled at her warmly and she smiled back, finding she could make her feet move. Letting the music flow over her and ignoring the see of faces staring, she looked over the groomsmen. Lois had told her that Clark was handling everything to do with the guys, and she'd only picked the color of the ties to match the girls dresses; antique gold.

So Chloe almost missed a step when she saw the handsome face of one Oliver Queen.

He really was every bit as stunning as the gossip rags made him out to be. She made a point never to read trashy mags unless it was in the vein of necessary research. And usually she preferred to just go over the picture-less archive copies from online instead. So while she knew what he looked like and had seen his face in various business journals she'd read, it hadn't really prepared her at all to see him in the flesh. But one wink when they made eye contact sealed his fate in her book. One criteria Lois missed off Chloe's mental checklist, was humility, and Oliver Queen certainly didn't have that. He was a playboy and a charmer, who thought he could schmooze his way into a girl's pants or into a guy's bank account.

How on earth had he met Clark? During an interview? And not only were they more than passing acquaintances, the position Oliver had up there near Clark implied that they were probably very good friends as well. Personally, Chloe couldn't see what the two of them could have in common - but then the same could probably have been said about Lois and Clark as well. It was something she'd have to remember to ask him about later on.

All during the ceremony she tried not to keep her gaze drifting in his direction, but it's as though she could feel his eyes on her, so she couldn't help herself. Sure enough he was watching and she shifted, uneasy under his confident smile.

Later, at the while they took photos in the church gardens while they mingled before the wedding coordinator announced it was time for the wedding party to make their entrance into the marquee, he came over and introduced himself.

"So I hear you're the cousin of the bride, a very close cousin." He smiled that unnervingly charming grin. "Oliver Queen."

Chloe took his extended hand and shook it in courtesy. "I know," she said quickly. "Chloe Sullivan, I'm a reporter. I know anyone who's anyone - it's my job to know."

Oliver grinned and nodded again. "I know, and I won't hold it against you."

Chloe wrinkled her nose at him. "Got a thing against reporters? Kinda ironic considering you seem to be besties with two of Metropolis' finest."

Oliver followed her gaze to were Clark was dipping Lois and planting an affectionate kiss on her cheek for the cameras. "I was raised to never judge a book by its cover."

Before she could think of a retort to stop his attempt at schmoozing her in its tracks, Lois turned then and waved Chloe over. Saved by a Lane, she grinned. Not that Oliver wasn't very easy on the eyes and relatively pleasant to talk to, she knew his reputation with the ladies and the thought of become another notch on his belt as one of his many conquests didn't even blip on her wishlist.

If he was interested in talking with her, it certainly wasn't to offer the kind of exclusive that she wanted. She put her half empty champagne glass on a passing waiter's tray and hiked up her flowing long skirt. "Duty calls."

Bart watched Chloe head for Lois and Clark and chuckled. "I don't think she could get away from you fast enough. Losing your edge there, Ollie?"

Oliver glared at the younger man. How Clark suffered the man's impulsive nature escaped his understanding. "You know her?"

"Chloe? We're great! Met her in high school we've been friends ever since."

"Friends?" Oliver scoffed. He didn't think Bart was capable of having female friends. He was a serial flirt and it was almost impossible to take him seriously with how quickly his interest switched from one thing to another, whether it be jobs, places or even people.

"She's the love of my life, not that she believes me. If she did, I think we would have beaten Lois and Clark down the aisle."

Oliver who'd been taking a sip of his glass, choked, a little bit of the bubbly liquid entering his nose. Not his most charming moment. He dabbed at it with his sleeve and stared at Bart as if he'd truly lost his mind and watched him staring after Chloe fondly. The woman seemed oblivious to them both watching her, efficiently arranging Lois' train for a new pose and fixing her veil. Oliver had to admit, she was very pretty with one deliciously proportioned body, all womanly curves in this petite figure. He imagined his hands would almost span her waist. An image of her straddling his waist while his hands gripped her hips as she rode him hard flashed in his mind's eye and he swallowed uncomfortably. As though she'd sensed his thoughts, she looked in his direction, frowning. She probably noticed Bart's drooling too. That was at least his assumption until he saw her smile and offer a small wave in Bart's direction. It was Oliver's turn to scowl. When Chloe turned her attention back to the couple, Bart elbowed him.

"See, isn't she gorgeous."

Oliver snorted and went in search of a waiter for another drink. So Bart she did like, it was him she couldn't stand.

It came time for the bridal waltz and after the first number the rest of the wedding party were asked to join them. As Maid of Honor and Best Man, Chloe and Oliver were obligated to pair up. Considering the less than welcoming glance she spared him when he collected her from her chair, Oliver thought he'd have better luck dancing with one of the flower girls. And he was right. She was stiff in his arms, and she had kept a good half a foot between them. They might as well have been attempting a jive than a waltz.

"For someone who's never actually met me before, you seem to have developed an instant dislike for me."

Chloe sighed. "It's not... I'm not... Just usually I can figure people out right off the bat. Clark sees the good in everyone, he was friends with Luthor of all people once, so I can see why he might have befriended you."

"Gee, thanks," Oliver snorted. Being compared to Lex Luthor was close to a insult as you could get in his book.

"But Lois, Lois calls bullshit from a mile off, so there has to be something redeeming about you other than the many charities your company donates to and the ones your parents started."

"Wow, are you always this charming? But I guess I can see that blunt tact and the ability to cut a guy off at the knees is a family trait."

Chloe gave him a genuine smile. "The Lane gene comes pretty standard. My Dad's the goofiest, sweetest guy you'll ever meet. It sucks a little, because people tend to walk all over him a lot. You need a tough backbone to make it in any industry I guess. But what he lacks in confidence, he more than makes up for with hard-work and loyalty," she added, immediately feeling the need to defend him to a successful business man like Oliver Queen.

"If we were all cut throat there wouldn't be a lot of productivity, too many people would be trying to undermine each other to be the alpha dog."

Chloe nodded. "You're probably right."

Oliver flashed her his charming grin, and Chloe felt her stomach turn in knots again. The song ended and before he could thank her for the dance, a slender arm encircled his waist, surprising him.

"Oliver, babe, I'm stealing the next dance." A tall, vixen-like woman with model good looks, hooked her other hand around Oliver's neck and planted a sizzling kiss on his lips.

Chloe felt her stomach roll and she fought the urge to gag as it looked like the raven haired beauty stuck her tongue down his throat. She released his hand that still held hers loosely and fled back to the table with a muttered excuse. This was a wedding, not a teen prom, neither of them had any decency at least that was obvious. They were standing in the middle of the dance floor and she was practically plastered to his side, with their faces glued together. At least Oliver hadn't put his hands anywhere inappropriate, which couldn't be said for his PDA partner, she currently had both hands firmly groping his ass, which she rubbed up against him.

Chloe wrenched her gaze away and promptly downed a drink to rid the taste of acid in her mouth. So much for changing her opinion of him. The tabloids were right about one thing, he was a man-whore.

Lois looked over Clark's shoulder at the spot where Oliver and Chloe had been dancing hoping to spot them again. Watching them briefly she'd felt a twinge of nostalgia. They made such a good looking pair, they'd make adorably cute blonde babies. And honestly, she couldn't think of a better match for either of them, they were both determined, opinionated, hardworking, passionate people who both cared about revealing truth and bettering the world. Granted they did that in very different ways but their souls were perfectly mirrored. She was about to hint to Clark to take a look at them when she noticed that Chloe was no longer with him.

"Urgh, remind me again why Miss I-Walk-The-Runway-In-Milan scored an invite?"

"She's Bruce's date."

Lois rolled her eyes. "And where is Tall-Dark-And-Broody with a savior complex that rivals yours?"

Clark shrugged and smiled at his wife, before leaning close and nuzzling her neck. "Probably off saving the world."

"Well that's just fantastic, I can't even get angry at him for leaving his arm candy of the day to poach Chloe's man."

Clark straightened and raised an eyebrow at her, finally turning to see what she was nodding at.

"Looks like I have my work cut out for me," Lois sighed.

"Lo..."

"Seriously, Chloe and Oliver looked fantastic together."

Clark looked a bit uncomfortable with where this was going. "I don't think Oliver is Chloe's type."

"Nonsense! If anything, they're too alike."

Clark could sense this is one of those things where Lois is going to live up to her nickname Lois "Mad Dog" Lane - she's not going to give up until everyone else comes around to her way of thinking. He'll wave the white flag now and save himself any pain or undue stress, and just go along with her hair-brained schemes in which he's sure both Oliver and Chloe will turn on him for at some point in the near future.

Still, the wrath of one stubborn blonde, he's learned over the years can be pretty near as brutal as his new wife's. Maybe more so, because Chloe knows his weakness and has never been afraid to use it if necessary, whereas to Lois the mere mention of any form of meteor rock from his home planet will send her into a panic. "Maybe you should just talk to her first Lois, you know how well trying to set her up with anyone has worked for us in the past."

Lois scoffed. "Please, you tried to set her up with Pete in High School because you were too dense to notice that she was actually head over heels for you. But okay, I'll admit that I made a mistake trying to set her up with Todd, the jerk quarterback in college, that actually already had a girlfriend and was actually trying for a second on the side. I'm usually better at reading people, I think those baby blues and smooth talk did a number on my brain. Ollie's different, we know him. He's not perfect but my baby cousin is no angel either."

Clark arched an eyebrow at that.

"Oh please don't make me have to spell it out for you, Clark. Chloe's not pure as driven snow as you seem to think, after Jimmy there was Frank, and then Jameson, Denis the Asian Aid pilot and..."

"Okay, I get it," Clark scowled, not enjoying hearing how many men had been with his best friend, who he felt was more like a sister, whom he was also very protective of. He only knew these men in passing but he was sure they weren't worth enough to have been that serious with Chloe.

"And stop frowning. Chloe's a grown woman. With the life she lives, you can hardly expect her to sit at home waiting for Mr. Right to come knocking before she has any fun. Which is where Oliver comes into the picture." Lois smiled confidently. "Trust me, they'll be hitting it off in no time."

Which was why Chloe seemed to be making a concentrated effort to the avoid the vicinity where Oliver was, thought Clark dryly. "I hope you're right," was all he said though.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
Twelve days later**

Chloe had eight hours before her flight to London needed her at the airport for security check in. But since she was already packed, she really didn't have any excuse to fend off Lois other than that she really didn't need any help in the dating department. If she wanted to go on a date she would. There were guys out there that asked her to dinner or lunch on a regular basis. Granted it would just be one date because she knew them, they always worked with her in some capacity which meant she knew their idiosyncrasies and knew that they would drive her crazy inside a week.

She'd never been the type that attracted random, available, good looking men that weren't slightly manic. If she'd been happy to settle, she would have rekindled that high school summer fling she'd had with Jimmy when they met up again at the Daily Planet when she'd started working there in her freshmen year but while he was sweet, she knew Jimmy would never challenge her and could never match her ambitions, they didn't see the world the same way. So they'd stayed friends, and Chloe had seemingly lost any chance of meeting a guy who wanted a future with her and didn't want to change her.

Lois poked her head around the bathroom door. "What about this one?"

Chloe looked in the mirror at her cousin's reflection over her shoulder. Lois was waving a red dress that had a deep v in the back, and low scoop neckline. It was a figure hugging dress that was cut above the knee. Chloe shook her head. "Lois, it's a blind date. A first date. I'm not trying to get him to jump me by sending the wrong signals. That's a fourth or fifth date, _'I wanna get serious with you or I want to have some fun with you'_ dress. I don't know him, so I'm not sending either of those signals."

"But I know him," Lois reasoned. "And this will get his attention, trust me."

Chloe rolled her eyes and turned to face Lois directly. "Which is why I really don't trust that this is going to go well at all. Your taste in men is almost as bad as mine used to be."

Lois stuck out her tongue. "Clark's perfect!"

Chloe folded her arms over her chest. "Please, Clark pursued you. You just decided to lose the blinders. What does Clark think about him?"

The question threw Lois for a moment before she realized she didn't even have to lie. "Clark thinks he's great." She beamed triumphantly. "He's a good man and that he's a perfect match for you."

"Really?" Chloe said drolly with an arched eyebrow. She made a point to call Clark and grill him later. While her intimidation worked better in person, occasionally she could wring the truth out of him with just her voice.

"Oh come on, Chloe, you promised to give this guy a chance. He's only in town for business for one more day. I want you guys to hit it off."

Chloe snorted. "If he's so perfect, why haven't I heard about him before?"

Lois tossed the dress back on the bed behind her and threw up her arms. "Honestly, it never occurred to me before now. But you're single, he's single, you look..." Lois bit her tongue stopping herself short from saying they look great together.

"I look what?" Chloe said narrowing her eyes at her cousin.

"You both look like you could use a little help in the dating department. I have a feeling neither of you would recognize your soul mate if they where sitting across from your desk for ten years and smiling at you every day."

"Are we talking about you or me here?" Chloe teased.

Lois glared. "It didn't take me that long."

Chloe laughed. "No, only half that." She sighed. "Okay fine, how about we compromise. Where did you say I was meeting him again?"

"Ace of Clubs," Lois said brightly.

"I guess it could make this work," she said and lifted the dress, eying it speculatively. "If I team it with my platinum stilettos and I wear my hair up, I can make it look sophisticated rather than trampy."

**:::**

Oliver looked at his watch. He had no idea why he'd agreed to this. He just come out of back-to-back meeting with the board of directors of two of his companies subsidiaries belonging to Queen Industries Metropolis branch. He wanted to just kick off his shoes, sit in the steam room for awhile, grab a shower and then sleep. He had a pretty early flight out to New York. These quarterly check ups on all the branches weren't vital but he liked to keep a physical presence and he liked that he had a good relationship with his administration heads. It didn't mean however, that it wasn't a serious drain mentally and physically though. He rolled his glass of gin and tonic, listening to the ice tinkle when a vision in red appeared in a sea of black and silver. He watched her get closer. She had yet to look in his direction but he could already feel himself tightening in awareness as his eyes travelled over her form. She was stunning, beautifully proportioned with creamy white skin. His fingers itched to touch it. He wondered if it was half as silky smooth as it looked. Secretly he hoped that his date would bail so that he could go after this exquisite creature. If he blew off this date, Lois would probably kill him. But as he stood, he was already planning on ways to beg her forgiveness and make it up to her.

He made his way through the crowd and felt his mouth run dry when she turned around and he got a good look at her back. The dress was cut in a V that went so low he wondered what kind of underwear she could be wearing under her dress, if any.

Oliver drained his glass and closed the expanse of floor between them. "I hope you're not here to meet anyone," he said fixing his best panty dropping smile on his lips.

Chloe stiffened at his familiar voice and felt all the hairs on the back of her neck raise and a chill race down her spine. No, no, no, Lois would not do this to her. Then again, he wasn't expecting a date, so he couldn't possibly be her blind date. Turning slowly, she smiled. "Oliver, fancy meeting you here. Didn't pick you for the type to go out alone. Hoping to meet some unsuspecting female? What happened to Ms. Milan?"

Oliver startled but recovered quickly. "Chloe? Wow, you... you look stunning." Then he frowned and looked at his watch again. It was eight o'clock on the nose. He looked up at Chloe again, a slow smile spreading over his lips. Lois and Clark had just come back from their honeymoon. Hardly enough time for Lois to try and set him up with someone she just met. His instincts told him that Chloe was his blind date. Setting them up so soon after the wedding, Lois was hardly known for being subtle. "Do you always like to knock 'em dead on the first date? I hope this isn't a tease."

Chloe bristled, she had that chill again. Yes, she was definitely going to kill Lois. What was her cousin thinking. She'd rather take that fluff assignment and go diving in the new shark aquarium in Miami than suffer alone in the presence of Oliver Queen. "Russ," she called, reading the bartender's name tag, "I need a scotch and make it a double."

Oliver frowned, this was all wrong. He was getting that frosty vibe from her again. That she'd rather be anywhere than with him. What was wrong with her? He'd never met a female that had been this repulsed by him. "Is this about Franke? She's an old friend, we hadn't seen each other in years."

Chloe gave him a incredulous look. "Wow, I better warn Clark. If you greet all your female friends like that, I think he'd like to keep Lois well clear of you."

Oliver ground his jaw in frustration. "Obviously no one can get within two feet of you without getting frost bite so you've never had the problem of disengaging from a forced kiss politely."

Chloe tossed back the drink and then glared at him. "Oh you looked like you were being tortured all right."

Oliver laughed and it wasn't a nice laugh. "You might look good in a dress but you're no rose, Chloe Sullivan. You're a viper." He recognized a lost cause when he saw one and he wasn't about to defend himself only to get ripped to shreds over every little thing he'd ever done in his life, true or not, to this woman. It was obvious that she'd made her mind up about him and he'd be damned if he was going to waste his time trying to get her to see different. If she was half as stubborn as Lois, it was definitely a hopeless case. "I hope your date leaves with his dignity in tact, although I doubt it. Enjoy your night, Chloe."

Chloe watched him leave, her mouth open with no retort at the ready. He looked truly disappointed in her. She'd behaved like a jealous girlfriend, and an insecure one at that. The things she'd said. She wanted to head desk but being ditched by Oliver Queen had already drawn enough attention her way. Head held high, dropped a twenty on the bar and left the club. When she stood on the curb she dialed Lois, praying that her date just hadn't showed or had been chased away when he saw her with Oliver Queen. Anything but what she suspected was the truth.

_"Chloe, why are you calling?"_ There was a long pause, then a sigh. _"You left didn't you? Clark said I should leave it alone, but you guys... well you looked so gorgeous together and I only want you to be happy, you know that right?"  
_  
Chloe choked a little at the resigned and pleading tone in her cousin's voice. Did she come across as that pathetic that she needed to be matched up? "Lois, we're completely different people. We have nothing in common."

Lois snorted. _"I bet you took one look at him and did an about face. Did you know how long it took him to agree to his blind date. Twice as long as you. He doesn't need me to find him a date. He can get one at the post office. I convinced him that he doesn't need a date, he needs a girlfriend, a good woman. Chloe,"_ Lois lamented.

"I might have behaved atrociously but in my defense he started it. What's he doing hitting on someone when he's supposed to be waiting for his date? The guy has no morals or sense of propriety."

_"Chloe, Oliver's smart, he probably figured out that I'd set him up with you in two seconds and I told you that he'd like the dress."_

Chloe snorted. "Oh he liked it fine, just the girl in the dress he can't stand now. Please Lois, just let it go. I'm perfectly happy as I am. I don't need you, Clark or anyone else to find me a guy or marry me off. My Mr. Right is out there. And I'm not going to settle for Mr. Right Now while I'm waiting okay."

Lois sighed._ "Alright, cuz. If you're sure you're happy."_

"I'm sure. Goodnight Lo." As she closed the phone, Chloe hugged herself tighter. Wishing she'd bought a jacket instead of the thin shawl she'd shoved into her purse. The night air went right through it and she shivered. She wasn't lonely, she didn't have time to be lonely. And the defeated look in Oliver's eyes was not going to haunt her at all. He deserved everything she said even if hadn't been all that appropriate to air it all in public. No wonder he couldn't keep a girlfriend, she doubted he knew how to be in a monogamous relationship.

**:::**

Oliver got into the limo and shut the door hard. He couldn't understand why what she'd said got under his skin. Dozens of women had thrown similar words in his face over the years. It meant nothing. They know what they were getting into. His status and his money guaranteed that he was recognized and approached everywhere. He couldn't even go to the store for milk without a woman trying to drop him her number. Heck he'd even been approached by men, while trying on shoes or suits. He was used to the attention. Which is why Chloe rattled him so much. She was neither interested or attracted to him. And while she seemed jealous, her stiff posture and facial expressions said that he was akin to the plague to her.

It wasn't his fault that he couldn't stay in a lasting relationship to save himself. It's not like he needed Lois or Clark's help to meet someone who would find him interesting or appealing. His problem was not finding anyone. And more so, not finding anyone who didn't want him for what they could get out of the relationship, rather than just be with him. He was used to girls getting jealous and turning vindictive, he'd never really cared before, it was all familiar territory. Lois had only convinced him to do this because if he was being honest he was a little envious of what Clark and Lois had. It reminded him of what he'd seen between his parents, and he wanted that.

He didn't have time to pursue dreams that seemed more like fantasy so he'd just got on with his life like normal. But when Lois had presented this idea, the seed had been planted. He'd gone into the date thinking maybe, left himself open to the possibility that maybe that kind of luck could rub off. He was an idiot. He'd never believed in luck before. It was all hard-work and perseverance. That's what got you through. Fate, soul mates and luck were for unambitious fools.

He wasn't about to be suckered for a second time. No, he was going to forget all about Chloe Sullivan and he wasn't ever going to get manipulated into Lois' matchmaking agenda again.

Neither Oliver nor Chloe realized that in Lois' opinion, this would just be considered a minor setback.

_To be continued._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
Five months later**

Chloe had been jet setting all over the globe, so when she got the call from her cousin to come over for a BBQ and an open invitation to stay the weekend, she had to admit that a good Kent feed and putting her feet up for awhile couldn't sound more blissful.

What she hadn't expected was that what she thought would be a little family BBQ turned out to be a full blown friendly get together that rivaled the Annual Kent Farm Christmas Eve Dinner. Mr and Mrs Kent were there, along with a lot of faces she remembered from Lois and Clark's wedding. It seemed anyone who either worked with or knew the couple were there. So much for her relaxing weekend.

Clark stopped manning the grill for a moment and Lois wrapped one arm around his waist and wolf whistled to get everyone's attention. Even before she spoke, Chloe can tell from the million-dollar grins they were both sporting what they were about to say.

"We're expecting and about six months from now, our Lane-Kent family will be a little bigger," Clark said proudly, as he hugged and kissed Lois adoringly.

There were many congratulations and several cheers, Chloe could tell they were beyond thrilled and she was happy for them, although she could sense in both of them that there was nervous excitement bubbling underneath the surface. This was new territory for them on two fronts, both as first time expectant parents, and expecting a human-Kryptonian mix breed.

She smiled and hugged them both when the crowd around the couple ebbed enough for her to squeeze through and stared into Lois's face to get a good read on her cousin. Lois couldn't be more beside herself. She was a woman in love and she was happily pregnant. It could be the hormones but Chloe nodded to herself thinking that Lois never looked more contented. "So I'm guessing pregnancy has been good to you so far?"

Lois pulled a face. "Are you kidding, every morning till about lunch I'm gagging every five minutes. And then come mid afternoon the nausea's back again. I'm counting down the days when they say it's supposed to ease up. This is the closest I can come to meat, fish or poultry of any kind. I can't even stand to smell eggs."

At that moment, someone passed by with a steaming pile of freshly cooked sausages and Lois started to look a little green, clamping a hand over her mouth.

Clark passed her a cup of something, and her face immediately showed relief. She smiled up at him and patted his cheek. "What would I do with out you?"

"Crawl into bed, swear on the day I was born and never come out," Clark joked.

Lois jabbed him in the chest lightly and wrinkled her nose at him. "You're lucky I love you, Clark Kent."

Chloe hugged Clark quickly and offered her sincere congratulations before excusing herself. Sometimes their sappy bliss got a bit too much for her. She was happy for them, she loved them both but she was honest enough with herself to admit she was also a bit envious.

She had spent most of her teen years fantasizing that she'd one day marry Clark. She was one of the few people who knew his secret and accepted him for who he was and even saved him herself a few times. She was twenty five and she wasn't even in a serious relationship, while Lois and Clark had been together for four years, married for a little over five months and now they were expecting.

Lois and Clark met in college, but didn't start dating until they were both interns at the Daily Planet. Watching them get together and fall in love was what had almost driven her to revisit her summer fling with Jimmy. At least until she realized that it wouldn't be fair to either of them when she knew that while she thought he was a really great guy, she wasn't really attracted to him. And Chloe was never one of those people that felt like they had to be in a relationship just for the sake of being in one. She enjoyed her independence, the freedom to fully commit and pursue her career.

Something prompted her to turn around and look back at them, and as she did she caught sight of him and heard his voice. She hadn't seen him since that failed blind date, and she hated to admit, he looked good. Not that she had expected that to change, but was it too much to ask that he look a little miserable. His face, the expression he'd worn when he left that night had stuck with her for a long time, and as much as she'd tried to dismiss it, she felt really bad over the way they'd left things between them. She might not like him very much but he wasn't a bad person. She frowned a little as she watched him talk and joke with Clark. He made Clark grin and laugh and Chloe found herself wondering not for the first time, how they knew each other.

She hadn't really got a chance to ask Clark or Lois about it at the wedding. There had been far too many people wanting face time with the happy couple. Today was a lot more relaxed however and after Oliver moved way, Chloe headed over, determined to have her questions answered.

Lois had gone off with Mrs. Kent to get something from the house, leaving Clark by himself for the moment.

"Hey," Clark greeted her as she approached with a smile and sat down on the stone bench next to him. He was finally done with grill duty and he was enjoying a hot dog. He offered her a bite and she waved him off.

"Not a fan of onions," she said, wrinkling her nose in distaste, "as you seem to be." He'd stuffed the dog to bursting with onions, pickles, olives, mustard and tomato sauce. She could see where Lois was rubbing off on him. When it came to food, those two couldn't hold a candle to Japanese game show concoctions. Her stomach turned at the thought of what Lois' pregnancy cravings might be like.

"You seemed a little strained before. Lois mentioned you've been going non-stop the last couple months. Everything good on the work front?" Clark asked.

Chloe sighed. Work kept her busy alright. Kept her from worry about things like her lack of social life, significant other and any family future of her own to speak of. Manning the Foreign Desk, chasing down all the big political world stories was a dream come true, expanding her language base on a month-by-month bases, learning new cultures, customs, dining with diplomats, presidents and royalty. She was at the height of her career. And on the side there was also the truth that she was on a first name basis with half a dozen of the world's biggest superheroes. She shouldn't feel this way. Like something was lacking but it was. Uncomfortable with how intuitive he was with her after all these years, she changed the subject.

"Work's great, just tired. Thanks for inviting me out of the city. It's really nice here." She nodded at Oliver's back. "Well, you two seem pretty close. You know, you never did tell me how you met Oliver," Chloe remarked before a thought occurred to her, "Please tell me it wasn't anything like how we met the other billionaires we know."

"Okay," Clark laughed, "Then I guess I won't tell you then."

Clark was relieved that she seemed satisfied with that answer, but he shouldn't be surprised. Chloe might be a hard-nosed take no prisoners reporter but she was also his friend, she trusted him and his judgment. She also always took him at his word. Still he felt compelled to give her at least something without revealing how Oliver and he really came to know each other. Anyone who picked up a newspaper, listened to the radio or read internet blogs knew who Oliver Queen was, but only a handful of people knew the real Oliver Queen. He'd first met Oliver in person as his alter-ego. He and Lois had been on Star City on assignment covering a worker's strike at a large industrial plant when he night patrol as Superman had him meeting the Green Arrow and one of his villainous rivals, Count Vertigo. Vertigo used his power to throw them both off their game, but working together, they managed to subdue him for the authorities. His voice distorter had been damaged in the fight, and it wasn't until the following day that he realized who the Green Arrow was. He wasn't in the habit of unmasking fellow heroes, unlike his first meeting with Batman, Green Arrow hadn't given him any impression that he was a threat. The plant they were covering was being bought out by Queen Industries. Oliver Queen had come down in person to address the employees who were striking to assure them that they'd endeavor to make the transition as smooth as possible and that Queen Industries HR reps would work with the Trade Union to ensure that they could come to some agreement over demands. Lois and introduced them. Clark had been a little unsettled to learn that Lois and Oliver had dated, until it was obvious it was ancient history and there were no lingering feelings on either side, just an easy friendship.

"In fact, Lois was actually the one that met him first."

"Or in other words, she barged into his office asking for an interview and wouldn't take no for an answer?" Choe teased.

"Not exactly, but he's helped me out of a few scrapes over the past few years," Clark admitted.

"You sure it wasn't the other way around?" Chloe asked, only half jokingly. But then she thought she understood what Clark meant. There had to have been some places that Oliver had access to that an ordinary reporter wouldn't have and he could have helped pull a few strings so that Clark's presence wouldn't raise any suspicions. Yeah, that was probably it. Satisfied with that mental explanation, it prompted her move onto her other question. Why they seemed so close. "But that doesn't really explain who you two seem like besties."

Again Clark was faced with the question of how much he could reveal without her cluing in that there was more to Oliver than what he showed everyone - the playboy billionaire persona and the successful businessman. Because after he'd pulled him out from under a car wreck and they defeated Vertigo, a few months later they met again after J'onn J'onzz started the Justice League, a team of heroes united in the pursuit of justice and the protection of Earth. They'd become team mates and formed a friendship born of the mutual desire to serve the people and make the world a better, safer place. He trusted Chloe with his secret and his life, but Oliver's secret wasn't his to tell. And while she accepted him and his hero work, she'd had her fill of playing hero sidekick in high school. She said being involved in that part of his life left her with no time to pursue her own work; challenging the system, keeping the government accountable and bringing truth to the masses, not to mention bringing all that to print. Lois seemed determined to get them to fall for each other. Chloe learning that Oliver was one of the costume wearing justice seekers would most permanently put a damper on that idea.

"He and Lois actually dated briefly in high school. When her Dad was stationed at Fort Ryan. They stayed friends and after we interviewed him during the worker's strike, we all kept in touch."

Chloe nodded. Lois was the face of Metropolis Tonight, and they were two of the Daily Planet's most recognizable names, so it made sense that they could be friendly with a billionaire. Still it didn't explain what they could possibly have in common, unless like Lex, Oliver had been seduced and envious of the Kent's close knit family. Like another billionaire they knew well, that Oliver had been an orphan from a young age, taken in by an uncle who had no interest in him personally save lining his own pocket. Remembering that, Chloe felt even worse for how she'd judged him. Fortune might have been handed to him, but nothing could substitute family. Being deprived of his parents so young would have made him far more impressionable. And from what she'd seen of his uncle, the man was a selfish, ego maniac. If it wasn't for the tight ship with excellent management that Robert Queen had run, there might not have been a Queen Industries for Oliver to inherit when he'd come of age. His uncle burnt money almost as quickly as it hit his bank account, sometimes faster. If it weren't for the strict stipulations on Oliver's trust account, there wouldn't have been a fortune for him to squander when he'd hit 18. Considering his role model, it was no great surprise why in the earliest years, Oliver had been a mirror of his uncle. Coupled with the anger that the world owed him something for what it had taken from him, he'd almost run himself to ruin, destroying any chance that the Board of Directors had any faith of him becoming the man his father hoped would continue his legacy. If it weren't for the serious about face he'd taken after returning from his two-year disappearance, they would have taken measures to freeze him out of controlling the company when he turned 21.

Clark motioned to where Oliver was standing talking to his father. "Oliver's a very trust worthy guy. And you know Lois, she doesn't cut anyone any slack. If he wasn't a good person, she'd have left him in the dust years ago. I consider him a close friend. You should know better than anyone that you can't always judge a person by what the press says about them. We always give people the benefit of the doubt, Chloe, and we do our own research. Besides, you've always trusted your instincts. What do they say about Oliver?"

That's where she didn't trust herself. She'd been wrong before, they both had. But then they were a little naive and they were young back then. Chloe was sure that Oliver, while he might have grown up under similar circumstances as Lex and gone to the same prep school, they were different men. It didn't mean she hadn't felt that spark of attraction to both of them though. She must have this thing for strong, powerful men. Or maybe it was an innate survival instinct considering her size to cosy up to the nearest male who could fend of danger. That thought caused Chloe to scoff internally, she didn't need a man to defend her.

The feeling of guilt however, deepened regarding her behavior toward Oliver and Chloe mentally resolved to rein in her tongue and the automatic snark that seemed fall from her lips every time she saw him, that was, if they ever ran into each other again. Knowing that both Oliver's and her jobs required constant traveling, the chances of that were probably rather slim.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
Private Room, Metropolis General Hospital**

"Lois, you gotta focus. You keep screaming and you're not getting enough oxygen. Sucking in oxygen is going to help keep the blood flowing in your muscles, which will help ease the cramps and lessen the pain."

"You don't know what I'm feeling, Chloe. This thing is going to tear my back in half and split my stomach open starting at my..."

"Lois, squeeze my hand as hard as you want, just breathe," Clark said encouragingly, stopping his wife's tirade before she assaulted their nurse's ears with her profanity again.

"Lois, it's not a thing. It's your baby," Chloe said through gritted teeth as Lois gave her a death glare, squeezing her hand until she felt her knuckles crack. Instead of breathing out, Lois was holding her breath and groaning just like she had for last four hours of contractions. "Clark, please remind her that this is not what she learned in her Lamaze classes, and what she's doing is only going to prolong the torture."

Lois turned on Clark. "If I could hit you without breaking my hand, I would. You did this. This abnormally large child with an even larger head, that's lying on my spine, making my...ahhhhhh," Lois words were cut short and this time she started panting.

Chloe wished that she could pry her fingers from Lois' death grip, just so she could switch hands. She was losing all sensation in her left hand. "What time did you guys get in this morning?"

Clark pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and dabbed the sweat from Lois' forehead with a wash cloth. "We thought her waters broke at around 2 a.m. this morning, but it was just a leak. They checked her when we finally managed to come in which was around 7 a.m. Lois insisted she have a shower, change and double check her bags first. She was only two cms dilated then. They were going to send her home again when she threatened Emil that she'd only be right back in ten minutes, because her back was killing her and she wanted an epidural for the pain."

"So why didn't he give it to her already?" Clark looked like he was about to answer her when he was interrupted.

"Almost there, Lois. You're about nine and a half," the nurse announced happily.

"Only nine..." Lois screeched, before she flopped back on the pillows. Up until lunch her labor had progressed slowly but steadily, and was just a bit of tightening, barely period cramps across her stomach with this nagging ache in her back. But at about twenty past twelve it all hit her at once, severe cramping, spasms in her back and her knees giving way so she could no longer stand. Which was how she now found herself hunch over hugging the top of the bed assaulted with this uncontrollable urge to push. Which was horribly embarrassing because it also felt like she needed to use the bathroom with a room full of people. And now after almost four hours on, she was still in this predicament of fighting her body all the way and holding everything in.

Clark could see how much discomfort Lois was in and knew unless he could get her to relax, there was no way their baby was coming out the natural way, and he couldn't be sure Lois even had the strength to keep going even if she did stop fighting. He could hear both of their heartbeats pounding away, Lois' a lot more stressed than their child's. So he knew despite the nurse's insistence to check the baby's heart rate every few minutes- which drove Lois crazy because she had to lie on her back, which was agony for her - that there was nothing to worry about.

"Do you think you could get Emil for us? There's something I want to try," Clark explained. "I know my wife wants to do this unassisted if possible, but she's getting tired so..."

"I'll go find him. He's been run off his feet today. Although why he's handling your case and not one of our resident OBGYNs is still a mystery to me. Are you sure you don't just want me to get, Dr. Roberts or Dr. Jolly?"

"No," Clark and Chloe said in unison, in which Lois just groaned her agreement.

When the nurse left, Chloe looked over at Clark. "Okay, what's the plan?"

"I need you to warm a couple heat bags for Lois in the staff room, and steal a few hot towels from the laundry, if you can."

"Can't you just..." Chloe made a motion with her fingers to her eyes, then at the blanket around Lois' ankles and Clark shook his head.

"The sheets are really thin, I'll probably just set them on fire."

Chloe nodded and patted Lois' hand. "I'll be right back."

When Chloe returned, Emil was already there and so was the nurse. She had to do a double take, because Lois seemed like a different woman. She was more relaxed and she definitely seemed to actually be going with it now instead being stiff, red faced in rigid determination not to feel her labor.

"Wow, Lo, you're breathing great."

"Shower," Lois managed to get out between contractions.

Chloe snickered to herself. Clark's hair and t-shirt were a little soaked, not that he seemed to care in the slightest, he was too busy holding Lois' shoulders, kissing her head and whispering words of encouragement to her.

"Chloe, head not tail," Lois bit out.

Chloe scurried closer and deposited the hot towels over Lois' feet, which immediately brought an expression of bliss to her face before the next contraction hit. She inched one of the heat bags behind Lois back and took her cousin's hand again.

"Fully dilated," the nurse announced proudly, withdrawing her fingers. "You're all ready to go."

Lois glared daggers at her. The same thing she did every time the sadistic nurse put her hands anywhere near her swollen body.

Emil felt her stomach and nodded to himself. "The pain in your back isn't as bad now is it?"

Lois shook her head. "Not since the shower."

Emil smiled. "Little tyke finally decided to turn over. It should be a lot easier for you to deliver now too."

Lois scowled at him. "Says the man not squeezing a melon head through a hole the size of a ping pong ball." She managed to suck in a deep breath before she let it out slowly, extending it as much as she could while she rode out the contraction.

"You can start pushing now, Lois," Emil encouraged.

Lois shook her head. "I can't, no way. I..." The next contraction stole the rest of the words from her lips and beads of sweat dotted her forehead before rolling down her face while she missed her next deep breath and lost her rhythm.

Chloe patted and squeezed her hand. "Lois, your mom did this twice. My mom did this. Women have been doing it for generations, in fields, without doctors or nurses or even clean sheets. Watch Clark and listen to me. I breathe, you breathe. Take a long deep pull and then let it out slowly, just like you were doing before. Come on now." She stayed close to Lois' head and waited patiently watching Lois' grim face, big fat pathetic tears rolling down her cheeks while Clark looked on helplessly, at a loss for what he could do but hold her. Another contraction gripped her cousin before Lois actually gave in and followed her example of blowing up an imaginary balloon.

"Good Lois," Emil said again. "Now this time when you breathe in I want you to hold it and when you feel your contraction, I want you to push. Push it all out. It's what your body wants to do, Lois. Just channel all that frustration I know you've been feeling these last few weeks with all those false starts and back cramps and sleepless nights and force it all into that push."

Lois grit her teeth and when she felt that dreaded tightening she'd been fighting up till now, she pushed with all her might. Three more big pushes and the baby's dark head started crowning. She fell back against Clark's arm and panted, sweat falling into her eyes again. Only half a push more, barely even a push and their baby entered the world.

Chloe was too in awe of this little red bundle whom didn't even wail more than this clipped little squawk at being handled, probably by cold hands, before she blinked up at them quietly with prettiest light blue eyes Chloe had ever seen.

"Wow," the nurse said in surprise. "I've never seen a baby with such clear eyes, not so young anyway. She's going to be gorgeous."

"She is gorgeous," Clark murmured proudly and brought her Lois. Lois traced her little girl's cheek fondly.

"I want to call her Elara," she whispered, tears swimming in her eyes. "For our mothers. Elara Martha Kent Lane."

Chloe chuckled softly at the Lane, but brushed the hair back from Lois' forehead. "It's beautiful name, Lo. She's beautiful. You did good."

"Thanks, cuz," Lois said beaming at Chloe.

Lois had delivered almost three weeks early after weeks of worry from several complications from, abnormal swelling, high blood pressure, false labor, followed by what they thought was her water breaking, to the real deal.

Due to their baby's unique genetics they hadn't been sure what to expect entirely but Emil had been confident of one thing the whole way through. They were going to have a big baby. At her seven month scan, the baby had measured four and a half pounds.

Lois managed one cuddle before she promptly passed out. Clark fretted over her, but Emil waved him off after checking her blood pressure. "She's just exhausted. Considering she's been up since 2 a.m. and she just delivered that big baby, I think she's allow to clock out for a bit. Give her a couple hours and her maternal instincts will jump in and she'll be tearing down the hospital for Elara."

Clark and Lois only trusted one doctor to handle the pregnancy and the birth and Emil got his OB certification just so he could look after Lois and their baby properly. A brilliant scientist and certified MD already, Emil Hamilton was the only one they knew who could not only handle the challenge of a half-Kryptonian, half-human baby, but he could also keep her father's origins a secret.

Chloe watched as the little girl was weighed and measured, her details recorded in the birth records. Elara weighed in at a very healthy nine pound twelve ounces, she had a full head of dark looking hair, which Chloe was sure would turn light judging from the way it was glinting with golden streaks under the overhead lights.

The nurse offered her to Chloe. "I'm all done, would you like to hold her?"

Chloe felt a twinge of anxiety before the bundle was thrust into her arms. She found once she got over her awkwardness and Elara settled against her chest, the feeling of nervousness bloomed to a feeling of overwhelming joy. Tiny hands grasped the air and she offered her finger to Elara who immediately latched onto it with one perfect little hand. And even at ten minutes old, she demonstrated that she was already taking on Clark's unique physiology, Chloe had lost all sensation in her right index finger with Elara's grip.

Tears burned behind her eyes and she had to work back a lump in her throat as this tiny precious bundle stared up at her with large, trusting clear blue eyes. "Hey there, precious. I'm Chloe."

"Aunt Chloe," Clark coughed and fixed her with stern look. "Gotta teach them about paying proper respect young."

Chloe smirked at him, her lips stretching into a wobbly proud grin as she saw him fluffing Lois pillows and pulling up the covers to tuck her in firmly. He was the world's greatest superhero, a model citizen, a good friend, perfect husband and now a father. This blessing couldn't have happened to two people she loved more.

**:::**

The next morning, Chloe arrived early and she noticed Oliver exit the elevator from the other end of the corridor leading to Lois' room with an enormous bunch of flowers, a stuffed bear and a large take out bag from Lois' favorite bakery. She looked down at her arm load, a gift bag full of freshly laundered baby clothes, and the same bakery bag.

They stared at each other from across the way and then smiled. It wasn't forced and it as followed by a shared laugh at how they'd both anticipating Lois' cravings.

"At least Lois won't be in short supply of her favorite pastries," Chloe said with a grin, shrugging with her bags.

"Why not, she deserves it," Oliver said, returning her smile. "Man, I'm kinda relieved she didn't want anyone else in there. I spent half the time wondering if I was supposed to be there, getting shouted at or strangled as best friend and support person." He shivered involuntarily. "Don't tell her, but we could hear everything out here in the waiting room. Lois admitting weakness, I think she'd kill any witnesses. I had to stand in once for Clark at one of the Lamaze classes. That so didn't sound how they said it would."

Chloe chuckled. "Wimp. I had to put ice on my hand last night."

It was only then that he noticed that she had a bandage on it. Lois had inherited a very thick skin, which was why she couldn't get any pain meds during labor, Clark had explained after the nurse was out of earshot when Chloe had asked yesterday. She'd also acquired super-strength. Emil said that it was likely due to their sharing blood via the umbilical cord. Chloe had forgotten about that while offering her hand to Lois during labor. She hadn't been around much for Lois during her pregnancy, busy on various assignments. Before she'd gone home last night, Emil had X-rayed her hand for her. There was a tiny fracture in her little finger, and a small bone in her left hand, but nothing that warranted a cast. He just told her to keep it strapped up and not to use her hand for a two weeks.

Oliver winced in sympathy as he had a pretty good idea how it had happened. "I hope it's nothing serious. I've heard more than once about how some people felt like they had their fingers broken while they were helping out."

"I'm fine," Chloe said quickly, "It's just a small bruise...in a few days it'll be as good as new. But anyways," she quickly, changed the topic, pasting a smile on her face, "I'm sure you'll want to see Lois and Elara now."

Without waiting for Oliver to answer, she turned around and knocked on the door to Lois' room.

"Hey, guess who decided to come and visit," she said brightly, before moving aside so Oliver could enter.

"Oliver!" Lois greeted him with a smile.

"Lois, how are you feeling? I stopped by last night, but Clark said you were resting so, I thought I'd just leave you to it. Bought your favorite. Maple donuts." He shook the bag and watched Lois' eyes brighten further.

"Gimme, gimme," she said waving him closer. "They gave me breakfast an hour ago. How hey think those pitiful servings give enough calories to support a nursing mother I'd like to know. You're the best."

She glanced over to look at Chloe and noticed her hand, and immediately felt guilty. "Chloe, I'm so sorry. You should have told me to take it easy."

Chloe waved off her concern. "It's fine, Lo. Emil checked it out, I'll be good as new before you know it. Besides, it comes with the territory. Dena, your nurse from yesterday, once told me that she was working with another girl who got her boob bruised. The woman just grabbed the closest thing and twisted."

Lois grabbed her chest and winced. "Ouch."

Chloe chuckled. "So sprained wrist, I think I'll keep my injury over something like that any day. It just sucks that I can't hold her," she said with a pout.

"You could sit and I could give her to you," Oliver suggested, "use your good arm?"

Chloe looked over at him in surprise and found herself swallowing back a sudden lump in her throat at his thoughtfulness. "I wouldn't have thought of that. Thank you. If you think it's okay, Lois."

"Pft, you were here with me the whole way through. I feel like you did the hard yards with me, you've certainly still got the pain to show for it," she said guiltily. "There's no one I trust more to take care of my baby than you, cuz. Besides, Clark of course," she slotted in with a grin. "The man's probably read every baby-child rearing book on the planet. He's a walking encyclopedia of unless, or useful information. Depends on who you ask. I prefer to learn on the job. It's my thing."

Oliver deposited the little dozing bundle in her arms and Chloe was struck speechless again for the second time in as many days at the sight of her.

"You're feeling clucky aren't you," Lois teased.

"Oh shut up," Chloe countered. Although, honestly, she couldn't deny it. This little girl had stolen her heart the second they'd laid eyes on each other.

Oliver watched Chloe with Elara and wondered why she would have lied to Lois about how badly she had been injured. Lois knew Clark's secret, she was married to him and had just delivered a half-Kryptonian baby. Covering to him, made sense, but why lie to Lois? Unless she just didn't want her to worry. Clark never spoke much about his past, only that he grew up in Smallville and that he'd known Chloe since he was a kid. It's possible that she knew Clark's secret already and that's why she's covering. Not for Lois' sake but because of him. Because she doesn't know that he already knows Clark Kent is their Boy Scout in red and blue.

He'd been intrigued by her before, seeing this side of her had him falling into this like-dislike thing they had between them a little harder. Knowing she not only kept Clark's secret, but supported his work stirred something inside him, it felt a lot like envy but he wasn't going to go there. Watching her with Elara, made him shift uncomfortably. She looked so natural and at ease with the kid. Like she was born to be a mother. Looking at her he could forget that she was a hard-nosed, gritty journalist that had no qualms about ruffling the feathers of the powerful and well respected, and even those with shady dangerous connections. A woman that seemed to have formed an opinion on him and had decided she didn't care to know him at all. Although she had been considerably less frosty or acid-tongued since they'd met up earlier and she hadn't even given him one distasteful look. Perhaps she was warming up to him.

Chloe felt eyes on her and saw Oliver watching her with what could only be described as a wistful expression. She straightened and narrowed her eyes at him.

Oliver sighed. So much for the ice queen thawing.

_to be continued..._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Summary: When everything seems perfect, tragedy strikes.

Warnings: cliff-hanger ahead...

**Chapter 5**

Lois and Clark had recently moved out of their city apartment and bought a house just on the fringe of Metropolis in the outer suburbs. It's on a large corner block with a huge yard with a white picket fence. Lois had spent the last three months of her pregnancy nesting so the place looked like a snapshot out of a home decorating catalog; wooden floors, Persian wool rugs, solid timber furniture and pretty print fabric lounge chairs, full book cases, country style kitchen that reminded Chloe of the Kent Farm and a beautiful nursery. With so many friends sending gifts there wasn't a thing that hadn't been covered in anticipation of this baby's arrival.

Chloe drove with a carload of gifts and flowers, and followed Lois and Clark back home from the hospital. She fell in love with the house on sight. It was the American dream home. She could tell why Lois gushed over it when they bought it.

Three days later, Chloe missed the house warming slash meet the new arrival party while on assignment in Afghanistan. Lois felt incredibly lucky that she was able to catch her career-driven cousin long enough to have her for the birth and for the two days following. She thanked her daughter for having perfect timing. Her little miracle was more a godsend and rich little blessing than she could even comprehend yet.

Lois looked up from putting more spring rolls on a tray and refilling the dipping sauce pots while Oliver rocked Elara on the other side of the island bench. "She loves you, you know. Not a peep out of her when she's with you. You're a natural."

Oliver laughed and tapped Elara's nose dotingly. "She's just an easy kid. I don't think she complains with anyone."

Dinah breezed into the kitchen to collect the freshly filled dish of finger food and caught their conversation. She snorted. "It's because he's had so much practice handling ladies."

Lois glared daggers at the woman's head while Oliver laughed off her barbed comment.

"She's just ticked off, because I told her I wasn't interested in ruining the team dynamic. I know her track record."

"My track record," Dinah threw over her shoulder with an incredulous laugh.

"I'm not the one who's a divorcee," Oliver said with a pointed look.

Dinah stuck her tongue out at him and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Oliver turned back to Lois with a smile. "She's also jealous because now she knows she's got serious competition for attention with our newest Leaguer."

Dinah's voice drifted back through the open double doors leading to the patio. "I heard that, and in your dreams, tights boy."

Oliver smirked and shook his head at her retreating form, turning back to Lois.

Lois sighed and reached across, patting his arm. "You can do so much better. She's kick ass and hot, I'll give her that but she's not the maternal type."

Oliver chuckled at Lois' observation. "Don't get me wrong, Lois. I love the kid, she's adorable, but no kids for me. The best thing about Elara is she starts crying and I can give her back." As if on cue, Elara's started to squirm and her cherubic face scrunched into a scowl before she let out a wail. Oliver hastily thrust her back into Lois' arms. "Whatever that cry means, I'm pretty sure I can't help."

He zipped out the doors to the backyard. Lois was unimpressed, "It's gas, you big chicken!" She shook her head as he disappeared behind the rose hedges and lifted Elara to her shoulder, rubbing her tiny back soothingly. "Okay, princess, just don't let it out like you did last time. Kinda hard to cover for breaking wind that makes paper lift off."

**:::**

Several months later, between assignments Lois and Chloe finally had a chance to catch up and take a day trip with Elara in the city. Lois didn't get out much save for appointments with Emil and play-dates with other Leaguer's children. There wasn't anyone else she could really take Elara to spend time with considering her ever evolving abilities.

Lois hadn't even had time to fill Chloe in on the newest developments yet. Seems their little girl had come into her powers a lot faster than Clark had. They couldn't really explain it, although Emil had a theory that since Elara had been absorbing yellow sun radiation from in-utero, that her stores were more advanced than Clark's had been when he first arrived. Clark had shown super-strength and invulnerability when the Kents had first met him, but nothing else until he was seven when he'd developed super-speed. His other abilities had slowly emerged as he'd gone through his teens. Elara was challenging their ability to maintain their regular identities. Clark was still working at the Planet and he was Superman, so he had that to escape to from their zoo at home.

Lois was all kinds of nervous. This was their first trip to the city without Clark, and for no essential reason other than she was sick of being cooped up at home praying their neighbors never noticed anything suspicious. Elara was just a toddler but already she had super-strength, she could lift the couch like it was one of her building blocks, and she had super-breath and super-gas, although they'd managed to curb that by cutting wind inducing food from her diet and switching her to formula so that Lois didn't have to endure such a restricted regimen. They'd discovered that her lung capacity was above average when they learned she shared Lois' allergy to dog fur. She'd sneezed everything Lois was cooking with clear off the kitchen counter when Martha had bought Shelby over for a visit. Poor Shelby was very put out to be confined to the backyard for their entire stay. Lois hadn't had a chance to even fill Chloe in on all the stories, only to summarize that Elara was far more advance than Clark had been as a child.

Chloe reassured Lois that she was well versed in handling all of Clark's quirks and that there was nothing Elara could throw at her that she'd be surprised by. And true to her word, Chloe was completely unfazed when Elara had hurled her toy from the back seat at the windscreen. If it wasn't for Lois' recently honed reflexes, it might have lodged in or even cracked the glass on contact. Thankfully, she caught it as she felt it sail by her head. They pulled into the city park across from the Daily Planet building, and Chloe popped the trunk, retrieving their picnic rug and packed lunch.

Setting up their space on the top of the slope, they were far enough away from the other groups of people in the park that any of Elara's potential quirks wouldn't be noticed, but close enough to the parking lot in case they'd needed anything from the car.

"She's growing up so quickly," Chloe remarked as she watched the little girl giggle as a butterfly fluttered near her arm. "Sometimes I feel like it was only yesterday that I was holding her in my arms at the hospital."

Lois laughed. "That's because you're so busy. But I guess everyone is these days: my husband is a chronic workaholic and I have now have no social life to speak of."

"Really? I'd thought you'd have more time now that you're on maternity leave."

"Not when you're the one on 24-hour standby. Sometimes I feel like having a long shower or an uninterrupted nights sleep is a thing of the past. Trust me, enjoy your long baths and full nights of sleep because they'll be considered a luxury when you have your own kids."

Chloe laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." As much as she liked the idea of expanding her family status of one to the American dream of 4.5 one day, she really didn't think that she'd be ready for that right now. She'd worked hard to get to where she was and unfortunately, all the good men she did manage to meet were either married or taken. Speed dating wasn't her thing and she wasn't desperate enough to join a dating site yet.

Of course, she was very happy for the two people she'd considered her best friends but marriage and having kids were not things that ranked too highly on her list of priorities at the moment. Screw biological clocks, she'd always been of the mind that when she's ready it'd happen and not a second sooner.

The outing had been uneventful thus far and Lois was just congratulating herself on a job well done when the soccer ball a group of boys had been kicking around rolled towards Elara.

Before Lois or Chloe could stop her, the little girl had picked up the ball and tossed it up into the air.

The two of them watched in horror as the ball zoomed off into the distance until it was a tiny speck.

The boys looked over at them slack-jawed while Chloe hastily got to her feet, about to offer an explanation and lucrative compensation when a sonic boom and the sound of an explosion echoed across the peaceful Metropolis park.

A streak of red and blue hurled through the sky, crashed through tree tops and landed with a thump that shook the earth.

The rest of the picnic goers started scattering in alarm, while Chloe and Lois shared a worried look. "Pack up everything, get her out of the city," Lois said quickly.

"Lo, what about you?" Chloe stared at her cousin shrewdly, guessing what she was about to do. "Lois, Clark can handle this. If he can't, we know the League will send out a team ASAP. Don't do anything crazy. You know he'll only worry about your safety instead of keeping his head on straight if you're out there... Lois," Chloe yelled after her as it was obvious that her cousin wasn't listening to a word she was saying.

They both stilled when they heard another sonic boom and a trail of red and blue streak back toward the heart of the city.

Lois turned back to Chloe. "Please just do me this one favor, cuz. Get Elara out of here."

Shoving things back in the basket as fast as she could, Chloe hoisted Elara to her hip and picked up their belongings. "If I don't hear from you in the next ten minutes, I'll hitting the JLA alarm in the car. You've got ten minutes to satisfy the urge to check on him, Lo. Ten minutes."

In the city streets, Superman was doing his best to protect the citizens as the Anti-Superman Squad, no doubt equipped and supported by General Lane tried to take him down. He knew the League would back him up. Bart had already arrived and was doing his best to clear the area - but Toyman, Livewire 2.0, Metallo and Superwoman were making it exceedingly unsafe to be any where within a five mile radius with buildings collapsing, cars being thrown and various kinds of energy blasts shooting in all directions. The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Batman arrived to provide more support and subdue Superman's attackers, but Metallo had gassed Superman with a cocktail of red and green Kryptonite which had induced some kind of mind control. He'd turned on Diana and when she had attempted to subdue him, he started creating random disastrous diversions to distract her. Buildings, parked cars and vendor stalls becoming weapons at his disposal.

Lois noticed the destruction and chaos and spotted Jimmy taking photos, she surveyed and assessed the whole situation in a micro-second. Seeing the danger he obviously hadn't, she rushed him, tackling him out of the way just as a light pole from a street crashed into the pavement where he'd been standing.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Capturing the story, Chief's going to go nuts over these."

"If you even make it off the street alive. Get out of here, Jimmy."

"Only if you come with. Supes wouldn't want you here either."

"I can't Jimmy, not until someone makes him stop," she said pointing to where Superman had lifted a car over his head with people still inside, posing to toss them. Batman was engaging Metallo while Wonder Woman had lassoed Superman and was trying to break the mental hold of the drug. It didn't seem to be working, although he hadn't tossed the car yet either. They were locked in a stalemate. "They're going to need help."

"Lois, they're superheroes, what are you going to do?"

"Something he's always trusted me to do. Save him from himself. If it comes to that," she muttered, already crossing the street away from Jimmy.

"Lois, no," Wonder Woman yelled.

Lois reached into her purse. "Fight gas with gas, I suppose." Clark didn't like her wearing perfume, he said he preferred her natural pheromones, just a hint of clean soap with a scent uniquely her. Chemicals and floral concentrates were too overpowering to have in close proximity all the time and irritated his heightened sense of smell. But for interviews she always kept a bottle in her handbag. She took out her blueK bracelet, and caught his attention. "Hey handsome," she called at the top of her voice.

She jogged those last steps, the blueK immediately weakening him. Wonder Woman caught the car and set it down while Lois sprayed the perfume in his face. Clark stumbled back, dazed.

He shook his head and wiped his hand over his face, wincing against the strong scent. Lois took a step back, giving him his powers back, allowing him to soak in the perfume at full strength overriding the mind control gas.

The sunlight breaking through the clouds seemed to be enough to help him shake off the rest of the meteor rock laced concoction and he straightened, flashing her a smile of gratitude before he turned to survey the damage his momentary lapse had caused. His face fell with guilt before morphing into righteous anger as he zeroed in on the culprit.

Metallo currently had Batman by the throat with one of his bionic arms while the other brandished an enormous gun at his head. "Bye, bye, Bats."

Clark let out a burst of heat vision severing both arms at the wrist. Metallo whirled in his direction. While this was going on, Superwoman had knocked out the Flash, and Hal, the Green Lantern was trying to escape the giant robotic hand of Toyman's creation that had both of his arms pinned to his sides while he was covered in yellow dust. The robot turned, it had been firing at Bart while he'd been doing his rounds all over the city block, evacuating people. Giant gaping holes remaining where it had missed it's intended target. Lois shuddered to think what would have been left of Bart had Toyman had better aim.

The firing tube pointed in Clark's direction and Lois froze. She knew calling out to him now would only cause a distraction. She kicked off her heels and barreled for him. He knew her touch, he'd sense her. He maybe be the Man of Steel, but she'd seen what that thing had done to metal and concrete. If it didn't kill him, he'd at least be badly wounded. She couldn't lose him, she wouldn't. Not again. The whole Doomsday affair less than two years before had ripped her heart out, he'd proposed as soon as he came back out of his coma, and she realized he'd never really died but there was no way on earth she could survive that feeling again. Not if she could help it. He'd feel her coming and he'd speed them both out of the way before Toyman could hit them.

"Superman, look out!" Wonder Woman cried, picking up a large street sign aiming it at the heart or what she hoped was the firing core of the robot.

Both women hit their targets right as the robot fired. Wonder Woman's hit threw the robot off balance, and Toyman squealed his outrage as he watched the shot go wide.

Lois drove her shoulder into Clark's stomach, only calculating her stupidity at the move when she felt her shoulder give. He hadn't been prepared for her to do that, and while he softened his aura immediately, the initial damage was done. It was like running into the side of an armored truck. Really, who threw themselves in front of the man everyone believed was invincible? They both stumbled a few steps back.

Clark caught her waist and looked down at her in panic just as they were hit with a blinding blast. Lois screamed as the pulse tore through her body. Clark held her tighter, never letting his eyes leave hers as he felt the same energy rip through him.

Everyone stopped. The blast faded and they stood watching the space where Lois and Superman had been in disbelief. They were gone. All that remained was an enormous hole in the ground that burrowed down so deep they could see the river below.

_to be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Summary: **The shocks keep coming while Chloe and Oliver cope with the aftermath of the tragedy.

* * *

**  
Chapter 6**

Chloe had taken Elara back to the car and waited for her cousin to call. When she didn't return within the allotted ten minutes, Chloe had gunned the engine and flipped on the radio. Metropolis always had news helicopters in the sky. If there was a battle going down in the city they'd be broadcasting updates.

_"We're circling midtown right now where members of the Justice League have subdued the villains who attacked Superman, although the woman who has proclaimed herself Superwoman, a mysterious individual who has only shown up on two separate occasions in our city, who seemed to be in league with the villains known as Toyman, Metallo and Livewire has escaped. It's a devastating tragedy that occurred here today. Superman died defending our city. His death at the hands of Toyman's latest nefarious creation has deprived us of a great hero, a long serving and upstanding citizen. May we never forget the sacrifice he paid to keep our city safe."_

Chloe sat in the idling car, stunned. With trembling fingers, she dialed Lois again. Again there was no answer. The radio faded into the background as she put her phone in the hands-free cradle and tried Bart instead. If the League were there, he should know something about it. He could explain to her what had happened and help her make sense of this incomprehensible news.  
_  
Clark couldn't be dead. He'd died before, he always came back. And Lois, where the hell was Lois?_ she thought frantically.

Checking the rear-view mirror, she pulled out of the parking space and drove out, rejoining outbound city traffic. There was no way, despite her burning curiosity and need for answers that she was driving deeper into the city.

When she reached Lois and Clark's, she took Elara inside and turned on the news. The devastation she saw made her heart lurched, and tears burned down her cheeks without her even noticing. She dropped to the carpet and Elara crawled into her lap watching her with wide eyes, as though trying to understand her aunt's distress.

_"...It's believed that some of our reporters were on the ground when the fight broke out. Two of our finest, Lois Lane and Clark Kent are believed to be among many citizens who are still unaccounted for. I'm here with Jimmy Olsen, photo journalist for the Daily Planet, and known associate of Superman. Thank you for speaking with us, Mr. Olsen. Did you see what happened? Did you see the shot that took Superman's life?"_

Jimmy's eyes were red and his cheeks were ruddy. He wiped his eyes again while the camera zoomed in.

_"I still don't believe it. She tried... why would she do that? I guess she knew, maybe, what that thing could do. I guess we could all see it. Look what it did to the city," he said waving his hand a the buildings that had been catastrophically damaged behind them. They've been friends as long as we have, and I guess she was trying to warn him. He always protected all of us. You never really think that he needs people to look out for him too. These guys, they hate Superman so much they came here to kill him. And as much as I want them to pay, I know Superman would have wanted justice the right way. I guess that's all I can do for him now, live up to his memory, you know."_

_"Are you saying that Lois Lane was here, on the scene?"_

Jimmy shook his head and Chloe could see he was swallowing back a fresh wave of tears, she felt hot wet streaks on her cheeks, a feeling of dread curling in her stomach even before he spoke again.  
_  
"She was right there with him when the canon blast hit. They were just...gone."_

Burying her face in Elara's soft curls, Chloe cut the power to the TV. She let the remote clatter to the floor and she rocked the baby back and forth in her lap. Elara's solid warmth was the only thing keeping her grounded, keeping her together from completely breaking down. Elara fisted her baby hands in her cardigan and clung back, seeming to sense there was need for distress and searching out comfort.

The doorbell rang and Chloe startled. She stood on shaky legs, shifting Elara to her hip and wiping at her face as she went to get the door. She took one look at the person on the other side, the pained expression on his face, and she broke down again. He wordlessly took her in his arms, closed the door and walked them back to the living room.

He'd been in the middle of a work day at Queen Industries in Star City when the news came through from Watchtower. He packed his briefcase, and told his secretary to hold all calls until further notice. He raced home, changed and asked J'onn J'onzz for a lift to his penthouse in Metropolis.

"Have you spoken to the Kents yet?"

Chloe shook her head and Oliver hugged her once more and dropped a light kiss on the top of her head, smoothing back Elara's curls while she looked up at him with big eyes. "I'll call them. Have you had lunch? Elara's okay?"

Chloe nodded wordlessly and sat down heavily, staring blankly at the silent TV screen that had confirmed what she'd already feared after hearing the radio broadcast. What on earth were they going to do? Elara shifted restlessly and Chloe let her climb down from her lap.

In her heart, Chloe was valiantly trying to hold on to the belief that Clark was going to speed in at any moment and sweep her into one of his all encompassing hugs, assuring her that everything was going to be okay. But Jimmy's words were like cold shards of doubt and that fear was quickly overtaking everything else. Even if Clark survived that hit pulse blast somehow, if Lois hadn't, he would be inconsolable and the guilt he would fall into he might not come back from. Clark always felt responsible for every bad thing that happened to the people of Metropolis, especially at the hands of those that had dubbed themselves enemies of Superman. He always took it upon himself to protect and save everyone and each time he didn't succeed, Chloe knew how hard that hit him. Over the years they'd both had to coax him out of these slumps by reminding him that while he had amazing abilities, he was still just one man, and he couldn't stop people from doing evil. He could only set an example and hope that people would want to better themselves. Lois was his light, his comfort and his heart. Losing Lois, Chloe was sure something Clark wouldn't be able to rationalize away.

Then there was also Elara to think of, Chloe thought as she stared down at her niece, whom was currently preoccupied with the multi-colored building blocks on the floor. Even though the little girl was too young to understand what had happened, Chloe knew that the absence of both her parents would soon be obvious. Then what would she do? Sure, the Kents might have an idea of how to handle a half-Kryptonian child, but they all knew that Clark's abilities had never kicked in this soon. Not to mention that she had work and even though her seniors at the Daily Planet were pretty understanding, there was no way she'd be able to care for Elara all day while she was chasing down a lead or out of the office, and what about all of her out-of-town or even international assignments? But who else could? All it would take was one super-wail or a missile-launched toy and then Clark's secret would be out.

Chloe looked up from her place in front of the couch as Oliver headed back into the living room.

"Martha's catching the first flight in from Washington. The Mayor's arranging a memorial service for Superman for Friday. You can guarantee all the big suits are going to be there. I was in the kitchen and I saw interview with Wonder Woman. It's all so surreal, huh?" Oliver took in her withering expression at the mention of the star-spangled, leggy brunette and he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He hated to say it, but it needed to be said, "Have you been able to get a hold of Clark? Jimmy called me, that's why I came to check up on you. No one's been able to reach Clark."

Chloe shivered involuntarily a sudden chill racking her body. Again she was struck with the concern that Oliver didn't know about Clark's alter ego. But now that Lois and Clark were both missing, presumed dead, she would have to work up a plausible cover story for Clark. She was saved from answering by the phone ringing.

Oliver who still had the cordless in his hand, made a motion to the phone. Chloe nodded wordlessly, allowing him to take the call. "Kent residence...yes, she's here...Ah-huh, hold on a second..." Oliver covered the mouth piece and frowned at her. "It's Lois and Clark's lawyer, he said he'd like to meet with us. As soon as possible."

Chloe frowned deeply. How on earth had he track her down so fast, and why was he contacting her and not the Kents? Unless, it was Jonathan Kent who had called the lawyer and let him know, and this was part of the cover for Clark. Jonathan was a United States Senator, he'd raised Clark from two years of age. He'd had to deal with spinning more stories over the years to cover for all the weird and strange happenings in Smallville, well before he'd been elected office. He would have seen the news and put something in the works before even half of the other news stations around Kansas started re-televising the footage that had been captured by a couple of the city's aerial cameramen.

She packed Elara in the car and despite her nervousness, and better judgment, allowed Oliver to hitch a ride. After all, she couldn't come up with a plausible excuse as to why not, and Elara seemed to not to want to let go of him since she'd left them together to re-pack the outing bag.

Nothing could have prepared either of them for the news the lawyer, a shrewd man with graying hair and hard blue eyes, would deliver.

Oliver leaned forward in his chair and blinked, putting his hands on his knees. "I'm sorry. Wanna run that by me again?"

He let out an impatient snort, and pushed a folder in Oliver's direction. "Read it for yourself, you're a corporate man, I'm sure you know how to do that. It's legal, binding and unless you take responsibility for her, she will enter into the care of the next of kin, which I was expressly informed, was not the clients' wish."

Chloe flinched at the thought of Uncle Sam spending any time unsupervised with Elara. As it was, she was sure that he hadn't even seen the girl since her birth. After her abilities had started emerging, Lois made sure of that. Not that the General was around much to visit anyway. At the moment, Chloe was pretty sure he was stationed in Iraq. The Kents would take Elara in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the fact that they were heavily in the spotlight in Washington and even if they were still living in Smallville, the most they had to deal with when Clark was a toddler was his strength. Lately, Lois had mentioned that she was beginning to suspect that Elara might have super-speed, she could crawl but Lois was sure that no normal child could be put down one spot and gone in the next second. Two people well into their sixties couldn't be expected to keep up with a super-baby. Which is what she suspected Lois and Clark had been thinking when they thought up this arrangement, if they had been thinking straight at all. Chloe was beginning to suspect that this was all Lois' handy work.

"Someone from Child Services will be contacting you in the next few days, just to insure the living standards are up to par and the child will be suitably cared for."

Chloe stiffened in alarm. "Isn't there someone who could vet us, I mean... Is that really necessary?" In her head she picture at least half a dozen scenarios in which Elara could alienate the woman or man, and send them calling for guys in black vans.

The man paused in his shuffling and eyed them both over the rim of his glasses. "A billionaire and a world class, respected journalist. Between the two of you I'm sure everything will be in order, it's just a formality. Oh," he said, lowering his pen and smiling at them almost in an after thought. "I forgot one stipulation. It's joint guardianship. The girl is entrusted to both of you. Meaning, you'll be living together for the duration of the guardianship, which is..." He ran her narrow finger along that particular line and read aloud, "until such a time as she reaches 18-years-of-age or she is formally adopted, which ever precedes."

Chloe felt faint, Lois and Clark had put a lot of thought into this. She sagged into the back of her chair, gripping the armrests, her head automatically turning in Elara's direction where she was happily playing with her favorite stuffed teddy, Lucky. Completely oblivious to the fact that her future was going to change irrevocably, and she was left in the hands of two people who only just tolerated each other, and who's lives barely had room for their own schedules. How were they possibly going to manage to survive each other, let alone raising a nine-month-old together?

Chloe looked across at where Oliver sat in a chair identical to hers and he gave her a one shouldered shrug, with a twitch of a grin. Chloe closed her eyes briefly in a silent prayer for mercy. If being separated from her baby girl wasn't punishment enough, Chloe would strangle Lois if she could.

To Oliver, Chloe looked as if someone had told her that her apartment was now infested with bedbugs, such was the look of horror that flickered across her face. His ego felt slighted, although he was quick to give her a good-natured grin when she looked across at him - judging from the look she gave him, it was certainly enough to tick her off.

He sighed inwardly. From bachelorhood to a roommate (that couldn't stand his guts) and a baby in 2.5 seconds. There was _no way_ this was going to work.

_to be continued_...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Summary**: **While arguing over why they can't raise a child together, Chloe and Oliver put aside their differences when facing the real threat of losing Elara.

**Chapter 7**

Chloe didn't know where to start, and since Elara was getting cranky having missed her afternoon sleep because of all that had happened, Chloe let Oliver drive and sat with her in the back seat, singing her favorite lullabies to try and get her to fall asleep. She was restless and overtired, and throwing everything, thankfully at regular baby strength, that she could get her hands on.

They were just pulling up to the house when she nodded off. Oliver cut the engine and they both sat in silence, neither one ready to speak about everything they'd just learned knowing that whatever they wanted to say would probably escalate into an argument, judging from what had erupted outside the lawyer's office.

**:::**

_"I can't do this, I'm not parent material. I run a billion-dollar international company and I take conference calls at 5 in the morning. I jet to practically anywhere several times a week... it's no life for a kid!"_

_"What about me?" Chloe cried. "I've seen her probably even less than you have and I work 12 to 14 hour days, I'm on the road all the time. How are we supposed to do this? I'm not moving to Star City. Even if Perry somehow does miraculously agree to relocate me, I can't give up my job!"_

_"Can't or won't," Oliver said folding his arms over his chest._

_Chloe snorted. "You don't get a say. Your shirt probably costs more than I make in a week and I worked my ass off to get where I am. You've got an office here. It's easier for you to move here."_

_"Easier! My head office is in Star City. Even if I did relocate here, I'd still have to travel back and forth and I'd be spending a helluva lot more time in conference calls."_

_"Tough, raising a kid isn't supposed to be a cake walk."_

_"I never asked for this!"_

_"Well neither did I," she bellowed back._

_"Excuse, me," a disgruntled voice said._

_"What!" they both snapped._

_The receptionist gave them a scornful look. "Your kid is crying and digging out all the planters in the lobby." She pointed over to where Elara was wailing and uprooting all the ferns._

_It was on the tip of Oliver's tongue to point out that she wasn't theirs, but one withered look from Chloe had him closing his mouth._

_"Oh crap," Chloe muttered and quickly cross the floor to Elara._

_The whole time she'd been arguing with Oliver she hadn't even kept an eye on the little girl. She could have been taken by a stranger or wondered out onto the street for all she knew. She reddened guiltily and wanted to smack herself for being so self absorbed. Elara was just a baby and right now Chloe was all she had in the world. She hardly considered herself well versed in caring for a child but she knew the basics and keeping a watchful eye was an unwritten rule. She'd just failed that one. She blamed Oliver, as much as herself. She shot him another reproachful glare and stormed out of the lobby_

**:::**

Oliver broke through her quiet reverie by speaking up, "You know, this whole time I only just thought about the kid. When I lost my parents, my uncle took me to live with him. Not only did I lose them, but I lost my home, my friends. He lived in Seattle, it rains half the year, and in winter you can guarantee that it's about 5 days out of the week. Then he shipped me off to Excelsior as soon as I was old enough, like he couldn't wait to get rid of me. I can't even get my head around where to start, but we'll figure this out. I don't want her to ever feel like she's not wanted."

Chloe felt herself blinking back tears. She had forgotten that he'd lost his parents very young. It startled her to think that this could be dredging up very painful memories for him. Even though she'd lost her mother, thinking that Moira had abandoned her when she had actually been trying to protect her from her dangerous meteor ability, at least she'd still had her Dad. "I think it would be best for Elara if we stayed here. At least until we can figure out something more permanent. I'll talk to Perry, my editor, about work. Maybe he can give me Clark's city desk job and I can try to work from home as much as possible. He should be able to give me some compassionate leave for a week or two, so it'll give you have time to sort something out on your end of things."

Oliver nodded and took the keys out of the ignition. "I'll have to head back to Star City, or maybe I could just have my assistant pack up some things for me, have them sent over. But I really should sort out the office over there before I set up here."

Chloe carefully unbuckled Elara. "You do what you need to, so long as we've got everything sorted before that social worker comes knocking. I'll need you to let me out," she said motioning at the door. "The doors are child locked."

Oliver smirked and her and Chloe rolled her eyes. She was going to be putting up with two children. He held the door open for her and she barely resisted the urge to kick him in the shins over the fact that he was still grinning.

"Next time I'm just going to roll down the window and let myself out," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Oliver asked innocently.

"Get the bags," she growled at him, tucking Elara's dozing body to her shoulder. She didn't wait for him to follow, she took the keys, popped the trunk and then headed for the front door.

**:::**

She was just coming out from settling Elara in her crib when the doorbell rang. Chloe startled at how loud it was and instinctively ripped the chimer out of the wall socket. Her nerves were frayed enough as it is. If this insensitive idiot worked her niece up again, she was going to give them a piece of her mind. She eyed the device angrily, it should at least come with a volume control, not that she could spot it. Loud incessant knocking replaced the chiming and Oliver looked over the back of the couch at her.

"You gonna get that?"

"Did you lose your legs in the last five minutes?"

"Fine, if you want me to make myself at home, I will." He stood up at stalked to the front door.

"Welcome to Casa Queen, no hawkers or uninvited guest allowed," he added just to piss her off further. She was all kinds of cute when she was fuming. She was so tiny but she looked like a firecracker about to explode, he wondered how much damage she could possibly do. She looked pretty hot, her green eyes narrowed and glittering threateningly. If she pounced on him, he doubted she'd even get him to sway an inch. He was suddenly reminded of that hamster in Bolt. He was ferociously trying to attack a six-foot tall stunt man in combat gear. It was both adorable and funny as hell. If he ever did get her to crack he only hoped he had a video camera handy for instant replay later.

"Oliver Queen? What are you doing here?" A young woman with a model's silhouette and perfectly manicured nails planted her hands on her hips and gave him a dismissive once over.

He leaned on the door and gave her a winning smile. "I live here, and you are?"

"Lucy?" Chloe asked appearing next to Oliver, a little breathless. "Oh Luce, I'm really glad you're here." She threw her arms around her cousin and was surprised to feel her stiffen. The embrace wasn't returned.

"The General sent me to pick up Elara. Does Lois have a go bag for her? He's arranged a transport for us and we leave within the hour."

Chloe dropped her arms and stepped back, reactively stepping closer to Oliver while instinctively blocking the doorway, prohibiting Lucy from going inside. "I'm sorry?"

"Jonathan Kent might have been Clark's executor but Lois is my sister and the General's daughter. Elara's coming with us. The Kents made it clear they weren't fit to claim guardianship when they let you two get top billing."

Oliver folded his arms across his chest and straightened to his full height. "Yes, I'm Elara's godfather, so tell your Dad to consult a lawyer. Elara's not leaving this house."

Lucy looked him over again, her lips twisting cruelly. "You're a serial playboy and a screw up. Everyone knows it's your business partners that keep Queen Industries ahead. You're a trashy tabloid train-wreck waiting to happen. Just how many bimbos do you bed in a week? I heard the last count was 6 or was it 8? One tell-all said you liked two for one. If you're going to play hardball on this, my Dad says he's willing to air all your dirty laundry and the court will know just how unfit you are to be a guardian."

Chloe barely resisted the urge to let her fist fly into Lucy's pretty face. It wasn't so much that she was probably telling the truth about Oliver's less than impressive behavior, but the fact that she thought she was any better and should be allowed to pass judgment. It angered her that both Lucy and the General thought they could dismiss Lois and Clark's wishes, while calling crap on their ability to nominate their own child's godparents too. It turned her stomach and made her want to scream but she kept her cool, albeit barely.

"And what makes me unfit, if you'd so kindly like to clear that up for me, Lucy?' Chloe glared at her younger cousin, that up until two years ago had been tearing around the European country-side burning the rest of Lex's bearer bonds, that she's conned him out of a few years ago. "I'm Elara's godmother, and her aunt. She's staying with me, and not traveling with you to a known hostile zone. And who's going to take care of her? I doubt the General's going to give up being top dog to play house mom. Who's going to feed her, play with her, cook her meals, you?" Chloe gave her an incredulous look. "Please, we both know who took care of everyone in your family when Aunt Ella died."

Lucy bristled, her eyes smarting. "What about you? You're a workaholic. I bet you haven't stayed in one place more than a month. You're obsessed with your work. You're going to give it up to play nurse maid?"

Chloe lifted her chin. "Elara's my niece. Family always comes first. It's what Lois wanted. I'm going to make sure Elara never forgets just where she came from. Something the General would squash out of her before she could even learn to talk with all this weak-link, chain of command, army crap he tried to brainwash Lois with growing up."

Lucy ground her jaw and glared at Chloe before she squared her shoulders and stomped down the front porch steps. "Fine, but just so you know. We'll be watching," she said over her shoulder.

Chloe watched her pull out of the driveway, before she closed the door and slid down the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"So we're really doing this huh?" he said, taking a seat on the other side of the door frame, mirroring her posture. "We could always go live in the Penthouse at The Clock Tower. No way either one of them can make it past security. They're the best in the business."

Chloe laughed at that, wondering on earth he would need bodyguards. And then snorted as it occurred to her that he might have to fend off stalker exes, or thugs out to take him for ransom. She shuddered, she really hoped that wasn't the case. Or she would have even more than just Elara's abilities, her job, her plotting uncle and self absorbed cousin to worry about.

"Are you asking me to move in with you?" Chloe asked arching an eyebrow. "Won't a female roommate and a kid cramp your bachelor lifestyle? No one has to know you don't actually live with us here. You could just stay in the city and come out every now and again. Or I could even bring her to you every day when I go into work."

"What if I want to play by the rules to the letter? You sure it's not your single status you're worried about protecting?" he said lightly teasing.

Chloe snorted and let her head fall back against the wall. "Hah, what reputation? Men don't even notice me, and if they do it's only to warn their superiors I'm onto them and to hide all the incriminating evidence. I meant what I said before, I think we should try to keep the changes minimal for Elara's sake. She's going to be going through enough as it is. And you said it yourself, you wished that you could have been at home growing up. So we stay here, together?"

"This is probably going to come back and bite me in the ass, but yeah. I'm in."

**:::**

It was nearing 5 o'clock. She should really start thinking about what she was going to give Elara for dinner. She noticed that Lois had jars of organic baby food in the kitchen cupboard. She wondered if those were just for lunch or for dinner too. There were so many questions that she had, so many that may never be answered, like where did they want Elara to go to pre-school, were they okay with traveling, could she take Elara on a plane if she had to, what books did they read to her at night and what time was bedtime, was she allowed to watch TV, did she a routine? Bath time in the morning or before bed? Chloe at in Clark's office chair and folded her arms over the desk and put her head in her arms. She wasn't ready for this, there was so much she was going to screw up. "What am I supposed to do, Lo?"

_"Call Perry for one,"_ a snarky inner voice said.

Heaving a sigh, Chloe booted up Clark's laptop computer and opened Skype to place a video call to her Editor.

Perry answered on the first ring, he had sent her a text earlier in the day, so he'd probably been waiting for her call.

"I'm sorry, kid. I wish I could tell you to take all the time you need, but I'd be down three reporters then. Lois' co-anchor has been just scraping by, he's no solo act and the temp, well viewers don't like her. Lois was coming back from maternity leave in two months. Now that's just... I've gotta get started on conducting interviews again. You know, it'll be easier for me to fill a Foreign Desk job, I've got half a dozen Political Journalism graduates chomping at the bit for a chance at that. While the City Desks, well the interns are just not going to cut it and these double degree Yale types think that's above them."

Chloe snorted. "Well actually Perry, turns out I've become an instant parent, so I'll need a desk job for the foreseeable future, but until I can work out a day time care arrangement, I'll need to be portable. Probably working from home."

"You wouldn't have to worry too much about day time hours if you took the Metropolis Tonight job. It's why Lois agreed to come back. She and Clark were going to switch out, so that she could start working again. Her hours started at 4.30 and went till 9. You'd save me a boat load of recruiting work, Sully, if you could take Lois' job and do local news print on the side."

Chloe groaned. "Perry, I don't know the first thing about TV journalism."

He beamed. "You'll be a natural, you've already got the face for it. Million-dollar smile, kid. You'll win them over on your first show."

She had a feeling she'd be just a front, she only hoped she wouldn't be kissing her credibility and her readership goodbye. Lois had mentioned that a lot of the off-air hours were invested in research and investigative reporting, she said it was all about having the right team behind you. Chloe only hoped that the team that had supported Lois would be as receptive to her cousin.

_to be continued_...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

After Oliver called their lawyer to let him know about Lucy's heavy handed threats, the man promised he'd get the court date moved up from their time next week. So first thing Friday morning they'd had to attend Family Court to front the judge handling their guardianship claim. They'd waited for three hours to see the judge but it had literally taken no more than five minutes once their case had been called. Their lawyer had insisted with the matter settled early the possibility of anyone contesting the will would mean a lot of time and money with no guarantee any change. Something Chloe couldn't really see her Uncle investing in.

In the afternoon, they attended Superman's memorial. St John's Cathedral was packed to the rafters. They had a second viewing screen set up at Memorial Park, a large monument site, that had been erected in Midtown Metropolis as a tribute to Superman surrounded by a very pretty botanical garden. Chloe was impressed how quickly it had been created, but then almost every business in the city was indebted to Superman in some way, and Superman had legions of devoted followers.

Wonder Woman spoke at the service, and made apologies for Justice League members who couldn't attend, but forwarded their respects and wanted to acknowledge through her, just how invaluable Superman was, and that his comradeship would be missed. Chloe scanned the first five rows that had been reserved for Justice League members, those who had seemed closest to Superman and for local and foreign dignitaries. She'd been requested to speak by the mayor being Lois' cousin and a known ally to Superman but she had deferred to Perry, not wanting to leave Elara for even a second.

When Wonder Woman had finished speaking, Chloe scanned the attendees seated in front of her. Those not present were obvious. Green Arrow, Red Tornado, Hawkman, Batman were a few of those she knew were close allies of Superman that weren't in attendance. Some considered them closer to vigilante menaces than heroes, and given their public status Chloe grudgingly understood their absence. She felt a swift breeze and looked down at Elara in her lap. The little girl held a small bunch of white tulips. She careened her neck and spotted the masked man in red and gold in the front row on the right hand side of the church across the aisle. He was watching them and she smiled and mouthed her thanks. He nodded and waved to Elara who bounced happily at the sight of him.

Oliver watched the exchange from where he sat next to Chloe and the Kents, and scowled at Bart. He'd wanted to attend in uniform to pay his respects but he couldn't split himself in two. It was more important that he support the Kents and Chloe than show the crowd that Green Arrow was a friend to Superman. And Diana had done her best to convey that with her condolences on behalf of the Justice League to both Superman's family and the city.

They all knew why Batman wasn't here though, the guy was in denial. It was interesting considering how differently they viewed the world, but Oliver knew that Bruce considered Clark one of his closest friends, and Bruce didn't have many friends. He'd just lost one, and he was bullheadedly determined to find him. Believing that the evidence didn't support the claim that all those missing were dead. Along with Lois and Clark, there were also several cars, vendor stalls, parts of buildings, two young boys and an elderly woman who hadn't gotten out of her car when they'd tried to evacuate people who had completely vaporized from existence. According to Bruce, things couldn't just vanish, there was always trace evidence. Matter didn't just disappear, it could only be converted into something else, ash or gas, anything that could be studied, but there wasn't anything, not even residual radiation. And they all knew Bruce's reaction to any theories on magic. Although according to Zatanna however, Toy Man's weapon had no elements of magic to it.

As much as he wanted to support Bruce in his investigation of his theory, Oliver had other things that demanded his attention. Like figuring out how he was going to co-raise a ten-month-old.

After the memorial ended, Chloe carrying a dozing Elara and they were about to leave when they were confronted by the one man who had no place attending a memorial for Superman.

"Chloe," he said extending his hand. "You have my sincerest condolences."

Chloe blinked back tears at the tortured look in his eyes. She kept her hands where they were, clutching Elara closer to her chest and inching back a step. "You really don't want to be talking to me right now, Lex. You hated Superman. You were constantly trying to turn people against him, creating havoc in the city. You don't care about anyone but yourself, so don't pretend otherwise. It disgusts me how you can stand there and lie and sell it as truth."

"Isn't that your job?" he said smoothly, the twitch of a smile gracing his lips.

Chloe made to slap him, but Oliver stopped her. "He isn't worth it. Come on, we have a prior engagement."

"Queen," Luthor said with a dismissive nod.

Oliver ignored him and put his hand to the small of Chloe's back. They walked down the cathedral steps together, followed closely by the Kents.

"He wasn't sorry about Superman, I know that much. Probably only sorry he wasn't the one behind it," Oliver hissed quietly.

Chloe swallowed back tears. "He was sorry about Lois," Chloe said. "He's always been angered by the fact that Lois chose Clark. He thinks he's in love with her, but it's an obsession, not love. He was owner of the Daily Planet when we were graduates. He hoped to win her over with his position but she turned him down for Clark."

Oliver shuddered to think what that duo would have been like if Lois had taken Lex up on his offer. With a woman like Lois behind him, Luthor might have been unstoppable. "So the tulips," he said nodding the bouquet Chloe held in her hand under Elara. "A superhero admirer I don't know about?"

Chloe smiled a secret smile and bent her head to sniff the blooms. "I don't know," she said wistfully. "I never thought of him that way, but he sure does know how to impress a girl."

Oliver frowned. With a bunch of flowers? If he'd known flowers were her Achilles heel he would have softened her up the day after they met by sending her a whole arm load of flowers as an apology for leaving her dance partner-less at Lois and Clark's wedding.

**:::**

They all headed back to Smallville for a small family service for Lois and Clark. The Kents had bought two headstones and put them next to Clark's grandparents in the family lot by the river on the back forty of the property. It was a very pretty spot, tranquil and almost untouched by civilization. Martha bought a picnic lunch and they spent the day out in the grass, under the shade of a large weeping willow tree. It had only been three days since the horrific tragedy but with no sign of Lois or Clark and the world grieving for Superman, Jonathan felt that it was important for all of them to have closure, so that they could move on with what needed to be done to insure Elara's future.

The streets and remaining rubble had been cleared, with the help of the Justice League, even most of the buildings that had been affected had completed most of their repairs. Clark and the rest of those that had been logged as missing were now presumed dead. In order for Chloe and Oliver to cement their guardianship and make decisions for Elara's well fair and Lois and Clark's Estate, they had needed to be declared deceased. Chloe couldn't even imagine bringing herself to admit that, she was fortunately that her uncle did that for her, and he made no secret of who he believed was responsible. Not Winslow Schott, a.k.a. Toy Man, but Superman. And honestly, it came as no surprise. General Sam Lane was the number No. 1 anti-Superman advocate, and had been trying for years to either get him to enlist so he could be controlled or leave the Planet. With Kara in Kandor, Superman had become his sole focus, in his stop the alien invasion propaganda.

Which was the reason why Chloe was certain that her uncle should never be allowed to even get within viewing distance of Elara.

Chloe watched Oliver with Elara. He was lying on his back amongst daises tossing Elara into the air much to her delight, happy giggles and squeals filled the air and she could feel a grin tugging at her mouth. She had to admit, she never would have thought so before but he was wonderful with her niece, he was always happy to indulged her when she wanted to use him as a human climbing frame and no amount of baby drool on his shirt or face would ever make him lose his easy grin when she was around. He loved Elara. And it was obvious that the feeling was mutual through the way she responded to him when he walked into a room.

Despite her first impression of him, Oliver proved to be a responsible guy and he would make a wonderful father some day. As it was, he was rising to the challenge a lot earlier than either of them ever anticipated and Elara wasn't even biologically his. Chloe felt a nervous pull in her stomach as he sat up brushing off a clump of grass Elara had pulled up and dumped on his head, he caught her eye and she blushed pretending to be preoccupied, hoping he hadn't noticed her watching. She'd eat her own tongue before she'd admit what she was thinking of him. His ego didn't need any feeding, she was surprised it wasn't inflated to the point of bursting already. But even as she argued that point, she knew underneath it all, he was just as vulnerable as the rest of them. She just wasn't ready to admit yet that he'd gotten under her skin, and every day that she saw him with Elara, she was softening a little more. And it unsettled her that one day, it would be to the point where she'd come to rely on him, and it sacred her to think that at that moment, she'd probably find herself at a loss if he ever decided to walk away from all this. To walk away from her.

Martha reached over and squeezed her hand. "You two are doing a wonderful job with Elara."

Chloe looked up to meet the older woman's tender gaze, her eyes moistening at the motherly affection she saw reflected there. "I'm not Lois, and I wish... I know what it was like wondering about my mother, wishing I had her. I hope I can be enough."

Martha patted her hand and wiped a tear from her own cheek. "It's what every parent wonders. Just remember, anything you need. Anything at all, you call us."

"Thank you," Chloe said, sincerely touched at how supportive both Clark's parents had been through everything despite feeling their own loss.

"Now you haven't touched a thing," Martha clucked disapprovingly with a small smile. "If you haven't already noticed, children like to emulate their role models. You eat well, so will she."

Taking a deep breath, Chloe picked up the plate Martha had dished up for her and forced herself to bite into the chicken salad roll. Up until now she hadn't felt hungry at all, but one bite of the crisp salad and roasted chicken and her stomach growled loudly. Martha was right, if she wanted to set a good example, she needed to start adopting better eating habits. Coffee and bagels weren't the kind of diet she wanted Elara to have.

**:::**

Chloe could feel her lips starting to hurt as she struggled to keep the fake smile pasted on her face. When the woman wasn't finding an excuse to paw at Oliver, she was throwing snide comments in Chloe's direction. In fact, she was practically doing everything stopped short of actually telling Chloe that she would be a horrible choice for the role of Elara's guardian.

Oliver's youthful indiscretions and less than exemplary reputation was written off as merely a phrase which he "obviously outgrew and nothing to worry about, we were all like that once", while Chloe found herself on the receiving end of a long grilling about her (and here the blasted woman actually tsk-tsked out loud) long record of run-ins with the law, including breaking and entering and several citations for trespassing.

"Look, Ms. Attkinson, I'm a reporter. Sometimes part of the job includes getting down and dirty, and that means sneaking into places and areas restricted from the public."

Ms. Attkinson looked unconvinced.

After the memorial service, Oliver had had to go back to Star City to finish up a few business transactions. So the longest they'd actually spent alone in each others company had been minimal.

When their case worker from Social Services came by for her first unscheduled visit, Oliver was still out of town, so she'd promised to come back when he returned from business, much to Chloe's anxiety. She wanted the assessment finalized the sooner the better.

One week later, she was back and Chloe found herself twitchy, unused to just sitting with nothing to do. When they weren't distracted by Elara, they had work to attend to, being forced to sit next to each other while this woman sat across from them scrutinizing everything from the way they dressed to how they interacted with each other was the worst kind of torture Chloe could imagine. Oliver on the other hand seemed to be completely at ease. It probably had to do with the fact that the social worker was smiling at him every time she looked up from where she was making notes on her clipboard. No doubt making references to Chloe's unsuitability with every pen stroke. Chloe didn't know what Oliver was so happy about. If she got written off, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on if her uncle really did decide to follow through on his threat.

"Elara needs a safe and stable home situation. It would be ideal if one of you could be with her at all times. Children develop extremely fast during this stage and form lasting attachments. Considering the changes she's already had to adjust to, I wouldn't recommend introducing a third party. I believe that Lois was a stay at home mother?"

Chloe bit her tongue before she could point out that Lois planned to return to work, still feeling defensive over the woman's critical attack over her professional life and instead took a calming breath. "I've changed positions at the Daily Planet which will allow me to work from home until Oliver can take over, and I have to go in for the nightly broadcast. But I'm still on leave for the moment, so we have time to iron out schedules. Elara will always have one or both of us."

She was trading serious investigative journalism to sit at a desk in front of a camera while other people did the hard work for her; the thrill, the satisfaction of unearthing truth and serving due justice would go to someone else. Chloe sighed inwardly, she'll have real investigative reporters behind her doing what she used to do, she'll just be the face delivering it. The sacrifices one makes for love.

The woman made a note again and then tucked her pen under the clip and folded her hands over the pages, smiling at Oliver again. Effectively dismissing Chloe.

"Mr. Queen, would you like to give me a tour of the house? I have a few safety inspection criteria I need check off, and anything not up to par we can address later. It's just standard procedure, I'm sure you understand," she said sweetly.

"Perfectly," Oliver said standing, giving her his patent charming boardroom grin. "We'll start at the guest room and work our way back."

Chloe sat on the couch while they walked away together, she folded her arms over her chest. What had she suddenly become invisible? Noticing the clock was nearing midday, she headed to the kitchen to start making Elara's lunch.

When the two of them returned, the woman frowned at her. "I hope you don't leave the pot handles like that with the child around," she said pointing at the stove.

Chloe turned and looked at it, turning the handle inward, flustered. "I didn't... This is a pretty steep learning curve. I'm doing my best here. Maybe if there was a list..."

Ms. Attkinson gave her a withering look. "I'm signing you up for the new parents 6-day course. You can bring Elara along."

"What about him?" she said pointing to Oliver.

The woman smiled at Oliver and patted his arm. "He's spent a lot of time at the Children's Hospital, and he demonstrated reasonable judgment making corrections himself before I could point them out during our inspection. He'll be fine. Besides I'm sure that being a CEO of a company like Queen Industries would make it extremely difficult to attend a small community run group session."

Chloe barely resisted the urge to stomp and point out that she was just as busy and how was her job any less important, but she held her tongue.

"Here's the list of things that you still need however," she said tearing off a sheet and putting in on the counter for Chloe. "I'll stop by for a final assessment in about two weeks." She turned to Oliver. "In the meantime, if you ever have any questions at all, please call. Would you see me out, Oliver?"

Oliver waved her forward. "After you."

She smiled brightly and looped her arm through his. When Oliver returned, Chloe was sharpening the knife and put it down very slowly on the chopping board. "Did you enjoy making me look incompetent? And when did you go from Mr. Queen to first name basis, _Oliver_?" she drawled mimicking the Social Services' worker.

"Well one of us had to look like we knew what we were doing or she'd just up and take the kid right now. There was an angle, and I was working it. You'd think a little gratitude for saving our necks would be in order, but no, you just can't handle not being perfect can you?"

Chloe bristled and scowled at him. "Because of you, I have 6-days of parenting classes. 6 days! How am I supposed to fit that in with work, and looking after Elara? And what am I going to do with her? I can't bring her along. We've been lucky that all she's done so far is throw a couple of toys..."

"Why is that lucky?" Oliver asked confused.

Chloe bit her tongue and mentally slapped herself for the slip. So far Oliver had no clue that Elara wasn't a normal child - she never did anything out of the ordinary while he was around. Unlike floating when Chloe tried to change her diaper the other night, or speeding crawling out of the bathroom naked after being bathed this morning. Chloe shrugged. "Never mind, I just think all this is starting to get a bit overwhelming."

Oliver shivered. "No kidding. I'm just glad she's gone. The arm touching was getting really uncomfortable and I don't know what I was going to do if she offered me her number."

"I think that would have been really unprofessional," Chloe interjected. "And while I do think she fancies you. I think she enjoys her job and she wouldn't want to threaten that."

"Well that's a relief, but do you think that maybe next time you could field her on your own?"

Chloe snorted. "Not on your life. I suffer, you suffer, besides she's here to assess both of us together. Or have you forgotten that she actually rescheduled the first time because you were unavailable." She glanced at the list and balked. Safety gates, cupboard locks, window stickers, anti-slip bath mat, power point covers. She looked up at Oliver and smiled slowly. She was in this with a billionaire, they'd be fine.

"So, would you be up for a shopping trip?"

Oliver blanched. "I'll pass, thanks."

They still hadn't discussed finances and since he'd opted out of the shopping, she wasn't sure how to broach it without pleading poor, which she wasn't. And she wasn't the type to ask for hand-outs anyway. With a huff, she folded the piece of paper and put it in her back pocket. She was going to have to contact the lawyer again about Lois' and Clark's bank account. Their Estate was held in trust for Elara but there had to be some kind of expense clause for maintenance and an allowance of some kind. In the meantime it looked like she was going to be footing the bills, Oliver hadn't seemed to clue in yet that this new arrangement meant that that he needed to share expenses as well as living space. Chloe shook her head with a sigh, next time she'd make it a duty task not a request and just hand him a list. If she took to restocking and buying everything on her own, she was going to go broke.

_to be continued..._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The days flew by and before she knew it, the two weeks Perry had allowed her off to cope with the bereavement and adjust to life as a parent were up. Thankfully, she'd been able to sign up for the parenting course and complete it during her break, as per their case worker's stipulation. She'd figured out Elara's routine, and while she managed most of it by herself, she'd occasionally been able to rely on Oliver to look after Elara without mishap. After all there had been no way she could bring Elara along to interact with other babies for a 2-hour class, even with a mid-session break. They'd managed fine without her, so while she was anxious about leaving them together for a whole afternoon and early into the evening, she'd loosened the apron strings a little. If Elara did do anything strange, not that he'd ever mentioned anything, she knew that Oliver was well past the point of backing out, he loved the little girl as much as she did.

Her first day on the job filling Lois' shoes and she couldn't feel worse about herself. The taping had gone from bad to worse when she hadn't realized that she should come to the station, product and make-up free. They were doing one test read through, before going live and she put them behind schedule by having to get scrubbed and her hair washed so the stylist and make-up artist could do her up properly for the cameras.

She'd gone through the test run relatively well but when it came to the live recording, she'd missed critical lines on the auto cue and as she'd tried to catch up, her live city cross journalist had to wait for her to scramble to read her prompts and pick up the right notes so that she could question him on his story. After the break, her co-anchor had tried to be reassuring while the producer had no qualms whatsoever about telling her how badly she'd screwed up and that she was even worse than the temp anchor.

According to viewer ratings that was saying a lot, and Chloe had barely kept a straight face until she could escape to the privacy of her dressing room, Lois' old office, before breaking down under the pressure. It was like going to her first interview with Pauline Kahn all those years ago as a young journalism student looking for a junior position and having the then Editor proceed to scrutinize her both personally and professionally. Her stomach was in knots, her nerves were shot and she couldn't stop her hands shaking. Thank goodness she'd had her pen to hold onto when she hadn't been madly shuffling through her notes, it covered how green she was. Not that her spectacular fumbling speeches hadn't revealed that already.

Oliver had nodded in her direction as she passed the study door on the way to check on Elara. He was on the phone and collecting print out after print out from the new laser multifunction machine he'd bought to help streamline business correspondence from all his offices.

She had a quick shower, and then picked up the phone to order in dinner. She was too worn out to even consider cooking. She had only enough energy to warm up the pasta leftovers from last night's dinner that she'd kept for Elara, the one that didn't have added flavorings to feed her niece. She collected Elara from her play pen in the office and put her in the high chair, mechanically feeding her dinner.

Chloe went through the rest of the routine in a daze and by the time that she put Elara down, she wondered when she'd ever get time to herself again. When she'd ever get the option to even call a friend to go out for coffee and a bit of splurge shopping. The days seemed to blend together, the nights when Elara did sleep through were so far and few between that she didn't notice. She was barely catching up on sleep from the days when Elara had been up two or three times in the night.

The parents at her class had nodded in sympathy until they'd asked how old Elara was and had proceeded to give her aghast expressions when she'd told them she'd be one in six weeks. Most of their babies were only a few weeks old, they'd been told that the sleeping patterns would improve as the baby grew. Obviously half Kryptonian babies didn't follow that pattern. It was that or she was doing something wrong.

She honestly didn't know how Lois and Clark had managed. Maybe it was just her. She obviously wasn't cut out for this parenting business. Something she was brooding over in great depth when Oliver finally finished in the study and come looking for food, or her, her brain was too fuzzy to speculate on it.

Oliver crouched down against the wall opposite and looked at her sullen face. She was propped up against the glass french door, sitting next to the newly installed safety gate at the bottom of the stairs. A silent baby monitor next to her leg. "Bad day?" he asked, nodding at the bottle in her hands. "The test run didn't go so well huh?"

Chloe snorted and took another long swallow of her wine. Oliver raised an eyebrow looking at the label but didn't comment. He knew it was probably from the basement. Clark wasn't a drinker, but Lois had been back in the day. She appreciated a good wine but usually preferred a Heineken. It was an expensive bottle of Pinot Blanc that Chloe was chugging down, Lois had probably gotten it as a gift and was saving it.

"I'm no good in front of a camera, I probably look like a fish out of water every time they're pointed in my direction. I can't even follow simple cues. A second grader is more eloquent than me. Perry's going to be so disappointed. Being a natural at everything isn't something we're all blessed with. Lois could always handle anything you threw at her. I'm not Lois."

"No one expects you to be," he said quietly.

"No?" She arched an eyebrow incredulously. "Ms. Attkinson expects me to be the perfect little homemaker and mother. Perry expects me to shine in Lois' TV spot and Elara... I'm not her mother and I think she's beginning to realize that Lois isn't coming back. I'm no where near good enough." She punctuated that with another long drink.

Oliver leaned across and gently pried the wine bottle from her fingers. "Tomorrow, you're going to practice public speaking, so you don't freeze up with a camera pointed at you. Elara and I will be your audience and we can playback to see what you need to improve. And what makes you think you're not good enough? You're brilliant with her, I've never seen her fuss."

"Well tonight she did," Chloe huffed. "I had to fight her on everything. Most of her food ended up all over the kitchen. I ended up showering with her because I couldn't get her in the bath, and she's in a little dress to sleep because I couldn't keep her still to get her sleepsuit on."

Oliver tried to stifle a grin but failed. "My nanny said I was a horror to dress, I'd always run away. She called me the serial streaker. Grew out of it fast once Dad caught me though. He said I embarrassed him in front of his colleagues. Gave me a caning I never forgot."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. "How old were you?"

"Four," Oliver said with a shrug.

Chloe frowned at that, thinking that the punishment seemed incredibly harsh but didn't say anything. She made a move to stand but stumbled and Oliver caught her arm.

"You should probably get to bed. It's already ten thirty. I was going to grab something to eat quick and hit the sack myself."

Chloe waved absently over her shoulder while leaning on the wall to take the stairs one at a time. "Takeout's in the fridge. Wasn't sure what time you'd finish."

Oliver took one look at the way she was swaying and shook his head. He hooked her arm over his shoulders and walked her the rest of the way up. Letting her collapse on the bed before closing the door behind him with a small smile. He always thought that she was hard on everyone, impossible to impress with unrealistic expectations of people, especially prospective dates. However, truth was, the person she was the toughest on, was herself.

:::

Oliver was dreaming, he had to be because he couldn't remember how he got here or even how he why he was here. Even if the place did seem vaguely familiar. He was inside another one of Lex's 33.1 labs, he had just punched out one of the guards when he looked up to find the last person he would have expected to see.

"Chloe? What are you doing here?"

"I'm on vacation, what do you think?" she said with an eye roll, opening her bag to search for something.

Both of them looked up when the sound of an explosion rang out throughout the complex. The sprinklers overhead came on and they were promptly showered, her hair plastered to her head to her head in seconds.

The door at the end of the corridor blew off its hinges and he barely had time to press her into the wall, covering her body with his as flames burst in their direction. The flash fire receded just as quickly as it appeared and he inched back to look down at her.

There were black smudges on her cheeks and she blinked up at him, her lips parted and her chest was rising and falling rapidly. Her gaze fell to his lips and he leaned down slowly, capturing her soft mouth. He moaned in his throat at the contact, surprisingly she didn't pull away or slap him, she responded passionately. He lifted her up by the hips drawing her closer, while she wrapped her arms around his neck.

There was a wail, and he shrugged it off as another fire alarm, continuing to kiss her. One of her hands tugged back his hood and her fingers were in his hair, it felt so good. He pushed her back against the wall and her legs went around his waist.

The wailing sound was getting louder and he cursed, maybe this wasn't the best place or time to do this, but she was smirking at him, one hand pulling down the zipper of his vest. He grinned back, and shrugged off the vest.

In the background, the sound of crying intensified and filled his ears. It's close, and it's not a fire alarm, the wail is loud, desperate and sounds more like... a baby.

He hovered in that state between dreaming and waking for a few moments until his brain finally registered that the wailing was still present.

Groggily, he opened one eye and groaned when he saw the time. 3:02 A.M. The crying...Elara! Where was Chloe? Considering the volume was such that he could hear it all the way from the guest bedroom, there's no way Chloe could have slept through that. Half-asleep, he stumbled from the guest bedroom down the hallway and into the master bedroom.

"Chloe?"

The faint light from the hallway was enough for him to make out her shape on the bed.

"Chloe!" he said, raising his voice a bit. When that still didn't garner a response, he reached out to shake her shoulder.

The next few moments were a blur. One minute he was trying to shake Chloe awake, the next, he found himself yelling out in pain as a jolt of electricity shot through him followed by a rapid spray of a stinging substance into his face. Stumbling backwards, he fell heavily against her bedside table and then onto the ground.

When she felt the hand on her shoulder, she'd reflexively reached for the pepper spray and taser she kept under her pillow, but it was the cry of pain and subsequent thump of a heavy object dropping to the floor that finally jolted her awake.

Gasping and wide-eyed, she snapped on the bedside lamp, her eyes darted around the room before they finally landed on where Oliver had collapsed onto the floor. "Ohmygod, Oliver!"

Already his eyelids were red and swelling from the chemical reaction, watering profusely. He couldn't even wipe at them, because he was still twitching, his muscles rigid from the electricity coursing through his body.

Frantically dropping the weapons, she darted from the bed and rushed into the bathroom to get a wet cloth. That was when Elara's crying finally registered in her mind and she hurried out, pushing the cloth into his hands before stepping over his outstretched legs and out into the hallway.

When she arrived back with Elara in her arms, Oliver was slumped up against the side of the bed, the towel over his eyes. "I'm so sorry, I-" she started to tell him as Elara's crying seemed to increase in intensity, if that was even possible. She tried to quiet her, cringing against the sound of ringing in her ears. She bounced her on her hip, while rubbing her back. "Honey, do you want some milk?" Elara didn't even look up, she just burrowed further into Chloe's shoulder, her cheeks red and hot to the touch. Chloe growled lightly in frustration.

Feeling a headache coming on, she placed the toddler between the pile of pillows on the bed and left the room. She'd have to prepare a bottle and while she was at it she could dose herself up on some aspirin. The pounding in her head was growing with each second she remained upright and Elara's high pitched crying wasn't improving matters.

Downstairs, the cry was muted somewhat, the darkness and the steady soft hum of the refrigerator doing wonders to soothe her frayed nerves. She couldn't believe she'd slept through all that.

For the past couple weeks, she'd gotten up to Elara as soon as she'd heard her cry and hadn't seen or heard a peep from Oliver till she came down for breakfast. He was an early riser, he was always in workout clothes when she shuffled into the kitchen in her robe, wiping sleep from her eyes. It irritated her how bright, energized and perfect he looked in the morning. Like he'd always had a good night's sleep. She could barely make it through the afternoon without crashing for a 15-30 minute power nap these days.

When she'd felt that large hand on her shoulder earlier, she'd reacted on instinct. She traveled a lot and to dangerous parts of the world, she never went anywhere without her taser and can of mace. She'd had her taser since high school, and it had served as her protection long before she realized that she had a super-powered friend as back-up. Even then, she wasn't the dependent kind of girl, she liked to take care of herself. She never had to rely on anyone, even living under the same roof as someone else hadn't dented her habits or self preservation instincts. Oliver had gotten the bitter end of the stick trying to rouse her from a deep alcohol induced sleep. When she and Lois had roomed in college, her cousin knew never to wake her by poking or shaking her, she'd caught a wild flailing arm to the nose when they were teens. From that fateful summer on, Lois stood across the room and threw a cold face washer on her if it was an emergency. And there hadn't been a lot of those. Clark was lucky he was invulnerable, Chloe had maced him a few times and he learned to use a breeze after that.

She hadn't drunk that much since college. One or two glasses were her limit, almost a whole bottle on a stomach of a couple of egg rolls while she picked at the noddles, she'd be surprised if her blood alcohol read below .0 right now, she'd missed the refrigerator door handle three times.

Chloe could have turned the light on, it would have made it easier than trying to feel her way around the kitchen, but she knew that turning them on would make her headache ten times worse. She made do with the light from the oven's digital clock and put the kettle on instead of trying to open the refrigerator. She got a glass from the dish rack and took out the small bottle of baby aspirin from the top cupboard. Shaking out two pills while she drank some more water, her vision started to clear slowly. Taking the pills, she drained the glass and set it down in the sink. Measuring out the required baby formula, she dumped it into a clean bottle, and poured the boiling water. Topping it up with chilled water from the fridge, she tested the temperature before she made her way back upstairs, marveling at the fact that coming down she hadn't landed on her head with how legless she felt.

Elara wasn't crying anymore. Chloe stopped in the doorway to see her curled up against Oliver's chest sniffling. The wash cloth was on the bedside table, she felt her heart skip a beat at how terrible he looked, his cheeks and eyes still red and puffy, but at least the tears had stopped. They both looked like they'd been crying for hours, although Chloe knew Oliver's appearance was entirely her doing. "I'm sorry," she repeated sincerely.

He grunted a response, as though he didn't believe her. "Who sleeps with mace and a taser under their pillow?"

She took the wash cloth, and went back to the bathroom to rinse it out. She wet it again with cool water and rested it over his eyes. He tilted his head back a bit to keep it from sliding off.

"I used to live in the city, alone," Chloe pointed out. "And I stay in some pretty socially unstable places when I travel. Personal security is important."

Considering how many home invasions and muggings he stopped on a regular basis, Oliver could fault her logic, he was just disgruntled that he had been mistaken for an assailant. They'd been living together for almost three weeks, you'd think she'd recognize him by now. He grunted again in response.

"Here, sweetheart," she said, holding it out to Elara like a peace offering for not hearing her.

The little girl took it meekly and snuggled back against Oliver. Chloe sighed and sat on the vacant side of the bed. Both of them seemed to be content to ignore her now, and she got the impression that she was being punished for neglecting Elara not once but twice while she was upset. After all, shortly after retrieving her Chloe'd left Elara on the bed.

Chloe heaved another sigh and flopped down her on back on top of the covers before she realized that she was still fully dressed. Groaning, she rolled herself upright and stalked to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she came back from washing her face and changing into her cami and shorts, the pair on her bed were fast asleep. The half empty bottle was still clutched in Elara's fingers. She pried it from her grip gently, and flicked off the lamp. She was too tired to take Elara back and kick Oliver out of bed. He was like a wounded man and he had resettled Elara when she'd made it her job at night so she felt like she should cut him some slack. Besides, it wasn't like they were really sharing a bed since he was completely passed out.

She had a couple more hours she could get in before the new day started their routine all over again. Breakfast with them in the morning before Oliver went into work, then they would switch out mid afternoon so she could go in for her five hour stint at the Wayne Media Group Broadcasting Station. That's when she vaguely remembered that Oliver said he'd take the day off so he could help her practice public speaking. She wondered if he'd retract the offer now that she'd assaulted him. She hoped he'd write it off as a nightmare come morning but considering her luck today, she wasn't counting on it.

When she woke up a few hours later, the other side of the bed was empty. Judging by the coldness of the sheets, Oliver had woken up awhile ago. That was when her eyes fell onto the digital clock beside the bed. 9:38 AM. Her eyes widened and she almost tripped as her legs got tangled up in the covers

She raced down stairs to hear happy giggling in the kitchen, and remembered that Oliver had offered to stay home today. Chloe brushed her fingers through her hair and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before rounding the corner to the kitchen doorway.

"You should have woke me," she said sheepishly. "I really should be making you breakfast for last night, or this morning, you know what I mean," she said, a blush coloring her cheeks.

Oliver put the frying pan in the warm soapy water and scrubbed it before rinsing it off and putting it in the dish rack. He shrugged. "It's fine, took a shower this morning and my face doesn't tingle a bit now."

Chloe cringed, she'd never sampled the spray herself or even had someone she knew tell her what it was like. Although judging form his reaction last night, it was like hay fever times ten, with the sting of onions, hitting you all at once. She had wiped her face after dicing chili peppers once, the burn near her tear ducts had been hell. Mace was probably close to that. "I'm really sorry. From now on, I'll just stick with the baseball bat."

"There's a bat?" Oliver said turning to look at her, his mouth dropping open and his eyes wide.

Chloe folded her arms and chewed on her bottom lip. "Personal safety..."

"Is really important and second nature," he slotted in with a nod, turning back to finish the dishes. "I'm living with Xena," he muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?" Chloe asked narrowing her eyes at his back.

"Nothing."

"E-ena," Elara said with a porridge all over her face, her grin triumphant.

"Traitor," Oliver said, shooting a glare at her.

Chloe grinned back at Elara and ruffled her curls affectionately. "So you think I'm a warrior princess huh?" she said with a smirk. "I didn't take you as the type who was ever intimidated by anyone."

Oliver snorted. "That was before I met you. You can be pretty scary when you want to be. Look it's not even ten, you're in boy shorts and you're talking about swinging a bat at me next time. As if that's better than getting electrocuted or pepper sprayed. Any guy who isn't intimidated by that is either stupid or a masochist. Oww," he yelped when she pinched his shoulder. "See what I mean. Just for that, I'm not telling you where I put your breakfast."

Chloe raised an eyebrow before she reached for the wall oven and pulled down the door. Retrieving the plate from the rack. "Thank you." she said sweetly, kissing his cheek.

Oliver stared after her as she walked around the counter to sit next to Elara on one of the bar chairs. When she gave him a quizzing look, he realized that his mouth was slightly open and that he must have a dumbfounded expression on his face. He looked down at the sink and pretended to be completely engrossed with washing up. Sometimes he had no idea where he stood with her at all. He wondered if she stayed up nights thinking up new ways to mess with him, but after last night, he knew she was too exhausted to be plotting anything. It must just be in her nature or her God given talent to be able to twist guys like him into knots, until they didn't know which way was up and they turned into these whipped puppies. He paused in horror at the thought. It couldn't be. He chanced a look at her, she was busily digging into her breakfast, chatting with Elara using her over-emphasized baby language expressions that made him grin every time. Chloe was so unaware of how cute she was, how sexy she looked it that tiny silky cami that hung over her every curve and now that she was leaning over, gaped so dangerously low that he could almost see the peaks of her...

"Oww." He put a hand to his forehead while bending to pick up the baby spoon that clattered to the floor. Oliver glared at Chloe, who was wide eyed and looked completely innocent.

"It wasn't me," she said holding her hands up in surrender. "I swear," she said, the edges of her lips tugging up as she denied her involvement.

Oliver shot a dark look at Elara. "Was it you? It's your spoon." The little girl's eyes went wide as saucers as he prowled toward her and she erupted in squeals of laughter as he grabbed her and tickled her sides.

Chloe seized up in shock at what to do. If Elara reacted badly and threw out an arm or a leg, Oliver could end up with a broken nose or rib, but she watched in fascination as Elara curled in on herself, her little face going red as she tried to resist the sensations he was creating.

"I think she's had enough," Chloe said, her own laughter finally tearing free.

Oliver shot her a calculated look and dragged her off the chair. He pulled her into the kitchen and grabbed the sprayer. He turned the water on full and drenched her from head to toe. Chloe yelped and tried to grab the sprayer off him. With Elara under one arm and the sprayer in the other hand, he circled her strategically, evading her every grab, until Chloe dove at him and they all went down in a heap on the slippery floor.

Chloe's laugh broke off abruptly as she realized the position they were now in. As it was, she was practically draped over Oliver like a blanket while Elara giggled from the floor beside them. Carefully avoiding his gaze, she quickly scrambled off and got to her feet. "Well, I guess I won't be needing my morning shower now," she said lightly.

"Great!" Oliver decided to ignore her reaction. He pasted a smile on his face as he got to his feet and took Elara into his arms. "So you won't mind doing the rest of clean-up then?"

Chloe looked around the wet floor and groaned. But then she supposed it was the least she could do after last night's incident.

She took a look at Elara and couldn't help but snort with laughter. "I guess we trade off?" she asked cordially, with her best puppy eyes, nodding at the little girl.

Oliver groaned and hugged her once, before reluctantly holding her out to Chloe. "Since you haven't showered yet, and I just need a change of pants, I guess you take her. She tends to be a wriggly worm whenever I try and dress her. We end up having diaper time, where she decides she's perfectly happy to roam the house topless."

Chloe reached out for her but slipped, and Oliver grabbed her arm. She fell into him again, their bodies flush up against each other. Her grip on his arm remained tight, her heart hammering from the adrenaline of the almost fall and the look he was giving her.

She gazed up at him with wide eyes, her tongue coming out to wet her bottom lip out of nervousness at the way his left arm was encircling her waist tightly. Her clothes clung to her like a second skin and did very little to hide the way she was reacting to him, but instead of fighting to pull away, she found herself arching into him and lifting her chin to align their faces.

"I really should..."

He lowered his head quickly, instinct taking over at the way her soft rosy tinged lips parted in invitation, her face perfectly angled to his. He felt her gasp of surprise but her eyelids fluttered closed and she melted into him. Her lips moving over his, he felt a rush of heat sail through his body and he pulled her up sightly from where his arm braced her waist. He closed his eyes when he felt her breasts, through her wet top rub up against his chest. He moaned into the kiss and her tongue darted out to meet his, he swept her up and deposited her on the counter, so that he could move between her legs and free up his hand.

Chloe was lost in his kiss, his lips moved from her mouth to her neck and her eyes stayed closed as he sucked on her pulse point and nipped at the thrumming spot under her skin. It wasn't until she felt a small wet hand grabbing at the chain that hung over her heart that she remembered they weren't alone. She pulled away from him, and pushed at his chest.

"Elara," she said breathlessly, looking up at him in surprise. Shocked that she'd forgotten her, but even more so that Oliver had, since he was still holding her.

Oliver shrugged. "She's fine."

Chloe shot him a dirty look. She was not going to make out like a teenager in front of her niece, and certainly not while Elara was wet, possibly cold. Forgetting for a moment that the little girl was probably impervious to the elements and just because she had goosebumps, didn't mean Elara was uncomfortable in the slightest. She took Elara from Oliver and very carefully navigated out of the wet kitchen. By the time she got to the bathroom in the Master Bedroom she was berating herself for letting that kiss happen. They were fine, things were absolutely fine until she let herself succumb to his Casanova charm. Who in the world could kiss that inappropriately with a ten-month-old between them? She'd felt his arousal pressed up against her, and what's worse is that she was even more turned on by it. As she angrily stripped down, and turned on the water, she vowed never to let her guard down again and to push the event out of her mind. Obviously, he had no self control and for the sake of this partnership and Elara, one of them had to.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Oliver tried to forget the kiss, but he couldn't. And seeing her everyday, getting ready for work while she pranced around completely oblivious to the effect she had on him while dressed in her thin silk leopard print wrap, which hinted to nothing beneath, even though he knew what she wore to bed was torture. He'd tried reverse psychology of walking around in the afternoon with Elara in his underwear, which they'd dubbed her clothes-free time, since she regularly avoiding getting dressed again after he tried to clean her up after afternoon snack. Chloe had given him a withering glance and pointedly ignored him. He'd been irritated at how indifferent his appearance was to her, but didn't let it show. If she could play the cold shoulder, so could he.

The day that he'd helped her practice with an audience and a camcorder had been a win-lose. Apparently, while she was grudgingly grateful to him for helping her tune out the stress and nerves related to live TV and a viewership of 7-million and pretended it was just he and Elara watching, he was in the dog house for not informing her that Elara had started standing on her own and had taken her first steps while she was at work. Which she'd demonstrated proudly while Chloe had been mid-practice run.

They spent the rest of that afternoon trying to coax her into a repeat performance. Oliver on one end of the living room and Chloe on the other encouraging this little girl who thought it was much more fun watching Chloe glare at him and just standing them between them, not moving at all.

Also it turned out that Elara's grumpy, fussing was due to teething. They found a tube of teething gel in the bathroom, and after using that on her gums every time she had red cheeks, sticking everything in her mouth she seemed to return to her usual contented self. She still had a mild fever, and Chloe had told Oliver to just let her stay in her diaper and singlet and gave her an ice teether ring to chew on. She'd bought a few more the day before so every time it started to thaw out completely, she could switch them over for her.

She dropped a kiss on Elara's head, smiled at Oliver and raced out the door to work. She was on her way to make-up when she ran into a solid wall of muscle. She looked up to apologize for not watching where she saw going only to come face to face with Bruce Wayne.

Her mouth hung open and she brushed back her fringe from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she stuttered. "Wow, you make personal visits back stage to all your programs?"

Bruce flashed her a charming grin. "No, only the ones that I notice could use a little confidence boost."

Chloe nodded and chewed on her bottom lip. "Saw the test, huh?"

Bruce nodded his eyes still smiling. "Don't worry about it, that's why it's just a test. Can't say I'd do much better, I hate cameras. You've won over the producer with the improvement though, no easy feat. Lois came to me herself with what a stiff shirt Anise is."

Chloe shrugged. "I appealed to the working mother in her. We bonded over tea."

Bruce laughed before his face turned serious. "Actually I came to apologize for not attending the memorial and for not visiting sooner. Superman, is a man to be admired, certainly was invaluable to all of us. I also consider Clark and Lois close friends. I don't have many of those. I would have come sooner but there were pressing matters in Gotham that demanded my attention."

Bruce took her hand and she was too caught up by the fact that Bruce even knew Clark personally, before remembering Lois say Bruce knew them and had been invited to the wedding, but she'd never met him in person before. His warm hand engulfed hers and she felt her fingers starting to twitch nervously as he watched her.

"...I'd like to make it up to you," he said.

Chloe blinked, she'd been so lost in thought that she'd missed part of what he was saying. He'd said that he considers, not that he considered. Present tense, she frowned. He'd spoken about the funeral but in the same instance spoken about Lois and Clark as though they were still in his life. Clark befriended hero-types it was his MO. Bruce was a billionaire, a socially conscious, business-minded, environmentalist, although he had a playboy a reputation that rivaled Oliver's but he fit the profile of the type that was attracted to small town charm and close-knit family. He was an orphan, like Oliver. Chloe found herself wondering if they knew each other too. And what made Bruce believe that Clark and Lois were still alive. If they were, where were they?

"So dinner, coffee maybe?" he said hopefully, bringing up his other hand to cover the one already holding hers.

Chloe blushed and shifted nervously. "I actually don't have time for that these days. Elara takes up all my free time."

"Surely Queen helps out."

Chloe shook her head quickly. "Oh Oliver's brilliant with her. It's just, I wouldn't want to leave him at home with her and go out. It wouldn't be fair. He hardly does that to me."

Bruce snorted. "Are you sure? You obviously don't read gossip magazines. What am I saying, you're a woman with class and a serious journalist, of course you wouldn't buy those rags."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you saying that... when would he have the time?"

Bruce shrugged. "Between board meetings, lunch dates, trips to Star City. Chloe, I'm not saying he isn't taking his responsibility seriously, but you know how his life was before Elara. He was dating that French model, what was her name..."

Chloe bristled but forced a pleasant smile. She patted his arm lightly. "Thank you for the offer, Bruce but Elara's been unsettled the last couple days. I'll need to go straight home tonight. Maybe some other time?"

She didn't wait to see if he accepted, she was too upset to even see straight. Those few days that Oliver went back to Star City to tie-up business. She felt sick at how gullible she must look to him. All those times that he called her during his lunch hour, how many of them had been in the company of beautiful women, playing footsie under the table? Or even worse, how many of them were giving him inviting looks, laughing and stripping off on his desk while he dismissed her latest frustrations at Elara's strange food habits, eager to get her off the phone so he could play doctor?

Just barely resisting the urge to grit her teeth, she went through the rest of the night on auto-pilot. The more she tried to purge thoughts of him from her mind, the more they remained. By the time the show ended, she'd ended up with more repressed emotions than she knew how to handle. As it was, she wasn't even sure if she was more upset or angry or... Why was she even feeling upset? So he wasn't suffering from any lack of female company. So what? Who cared? Definitely not her.

:::

Chloe stumbled in the door late. On her test run, she'd made it home in time to give Elara her dinner, do the bedtime routine and kiss her niece goodnight, but since she'd started full time with the network, she'd be lucky to peek in on Elara without waking her around 10 p.m. It was well on the way to a quarter to twelve. Tom, the late night sports presenter had started chatting to her before his segment, and it was nice not to feel guilty at all for giving herself a little time off, enjoying adult company, knowing Oliver certainly didn't mind leaving her holding the baby so to speak. Tom had asked her on a date. The second date offer she'd had in less than 24hrs and she'd asked for a rain-check, only because she wanted to make sure she arranged something with either Bart or Oliver before she said yes.

Having eaten a sandwich from the staff canteen while doing the read through, she had a shower and fell into bed. She'd stopped at Elara's door and saw her sleeping soundly, so she pulled the door until it was only open a fraction of an inch. She was right across the hall. She only used the baby monitor when she was downstairs. She could hear Elara fine without it from her room.

Pulling back the covers, she snuggled up to her pillows. Dreaming for the first time about a perfect dinner date under the stars with a charming faceless stranger, who made her laugh and cry and blush like a teenager, while her heart raced. It had been years since she'd fantasized about a man that way, usually the men in her dreams always had faces, either men she knew or famous faces, that were plain indulgent fantasies. She slept so heavily that she didn't register the sound of a high-pitched, incessant alarm until she rolled over in a daze and sucked in a waft of choking smoke.

Chloe sat up with a start. Fire. There was a fire in the house. Jumping out of bed, the smoke thicker at her shoulder height, make her cough and her eyes smart. She ran to the bathroom and soaked a towel before stepping out into the hallway. She threw open the door to Elara's room and the draft caused the flames in her niece's room to leap at her. She fell back to the floor, and blinked, staring through the flames and intense heat, trying to see if Elara was still in her room.

"Chloe!" Oliver yelled from downstairs.

Chloe looked down at him. "Where's Elara?" she called, her voice croaking and breaking into a fit of coughing.

Oliver shook his head at her. He was trying to say something to her, gesturing wildly, but she couldn't hear him over the sudden roar and crackling from overhead. The flames and licked up the wall from the door frame and spread to the oil painting and wooden buffet nearby.

Waving at her, Oliver yelled again. "Chloe, get down here." It was as though she was frozen. She was just curled there on the floor, looking at him in a daze.

Realizing that she wasn't going to move on her own, he headed for the stairs. Just as he put his foot down on the first step, part of the roof collapsed and crashed through the staircase. The lacquered stairs ignited quickly and exploded with the heat. Oliver jumped back and stared up at her in horror.

At least a third of the flight of stairs had been taken out. Chloe stood at the top, she'd finally gotten up off of the floor.

"Elara!" she cried.

"We're getting a ladder from the garage, I couldn't get inside her room. Where were you? How could you possibly sleep through all this?"

The flames licked up the wall and more debris from the roof fell into the gaping space between them.

"Chloe, jump!"

She shook her head vigorously. "I'm not leaving without Elara!"

"Are you insane? We know she's going to be fine, you won't be. Think about it, Chloe. Clark's her father. You're her only family, she can't lose you, now get your ass down here!"

This is the first time either of them had discussed Elara's unique parentage. Although there were so many obvious signs too hard to ignore, living and raising a toddler who knew nothing about the necessity for secrets or discretion, neither of them had ever come out and said what they both knew.

Speculating any further on that topic would have to be shelved until a better time, because the smoke was increasing rapidly and she could barely see him through it now. Biting her lip, Chloe closed her eyes and leaped forward in Oliver's general direction. She could feel her eyes starting to sting and even as she braced herself for the impact against the hard floor, she heard a muffled "oof" as Oliver caught a hold of her.

That's when she heard it, Elara crying. She scrambled off Oliver and stood at the bottom of the stairs, immediately assessing whether or not she could get back up there.

Oliver sat up, rubbing his ribs and grumbled, "I'm fine by the way." Before getting to his feet and grabbing her arm as she was about to attempt a jump. "Ladder remember. You can't get to her from the hallway anyway."

They both rushed out the French doors to the back yard. Chloe could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance and neighbors gathering to see what was going on. Lois and Clark had a high fence, but a couple of their neighbors were standing on their balconies to see what was happening.

Chloe turned to Oliver and grabbed his sooty t-shirt. Her eyes wide, she shook him. "People are watching. We can't leave her in there, but how are we going to get her out without them realizing she's not normal."

It was then that Chloe spotted Bruce. He had a ladder and he'd set it up against the side of the house. He had the garden hose and was directing it at the roof, but the flames were spreading faster than he could put out.

"What is he doing on our roof?"

Oliver scratched his head. He didn't know why Bruce had shown up when he had, but his ringing the doorbell shortly before the fire alarm had gone off, was the only reason Oliver had been downstairs, instead of upstairs when the fire had spread. The fire had torn through the second floor so quickly, that Bruce suggested they try to get to Elara's room from the outside. He'd suggested that considering based on the assumption that the door to her room had been scorching hot. Oliver realized that from the concentration of the flames that the fire had probably started there, and could have come from Elara herself. Bruce knew Clark was Superman and was fully aware of his abilities, assuming that Elara was the same. It was the only reason Oliver had for explaining how calmly the man took charge of the situation.

Oliver frowned at his speculation however, confused over whether that was even possible, but he didn't voice any of his thoughts to Chloe.

Bruce was looking at Elara's window. Chloe rushed over to the ladder and climbed up, it was wide enough that she could slip by him but they had to weight it evenly so that it wouldn't tip. "I can get her," Chloe said tugging at his pant leg.

"You can't get up there. I tried, the fire is in the roof, the tiles will burn your hands and feet."

Chloe shook her head. "I have to get her. The firefighters will probably be here any minute. I can't leave her in there."

"Chloe, it's their job to rescue. There's nothing you can do. I've got the hose right on her room. Fire there should be out soon, then we can call out to her."

"She's a baby, she's probably scared to death. And if we wait any longer, the floor might give way. You to might think she's invulnerable but to me she's just a baby who shouldn't have to go through this kind of trauma." She pulled at his jacket, and Bruce shrugged it off.

"What are you doing?"

She ripped out the sleeves and tugged them over her feet. before climbing over him to the roof. She used the rest of the jacket to brace the guttering, and climbed up. Even with the buffer of his expensive wool coat, Chloe could feel the heat of the roof through the fabric.

She grit her teeth through the sizzling heat and rising smoke and pressed forward to Elara's bedroom window. From up there, she could hear her crying above the roar of the flames.

"I'm coming, honey. I'm coming, it'll be okay."

Chloe inched forward and put her foot down. The tile gave and she only had a second to fall back before that part of the roof broke away and crumbled. As she fell back her hands hit the tiles and were immediately scorched. Chloe landed on her bottom and felt her skin boil. Bruce immediately directed the hose on her instead and she felt relief from her burns, while tears prickled in her eyes. Her heart pounded and she stared helplessly at the hole separating her from Elara's window. She couldn't get to her now. They'd have to climb down and move the ladder to the other side of the roof, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't be cut off again. She was beginning to suspect that the fire had started in Elara's bedroom. She had been feeling very hot lately, slightly feverish. Clark had once explained that his heat vision was a way of releasing a build up of heat. His ability hadn't surfaced until puberty. Elara was ahead in her abilities on so many points. Chloe shook her head, fresh tears flowing from her eyes. Invulnerability, super-speed, super-breath, floating, super-strength, now heat vision, why did Elara have to be so advanced?

She'd heard the theory that girls developed faster than boys but this was over-kill. Where was the super-powered Kryptonian aunt when you needed her. With her alien kin, that's where, Chloe snorted. Life could have been so much easier if Kara were still around.

Oliver watched as Chloe fell and the roof caved in, and felt his heart leap into his throat. He hadn't been afraid for Elara at all. The kid was made like her father. He'd been hit in the shin, narrowly avoiding broken bones from projectile building blocks, he'd had to fetch her from the light fixture in the dining room when she'd played hide and seek with him. He'd watched her take a tumble down the stairs when he forgot to close the safety gate and she come up giggling without a bruise to show for her mishap. He'd even watched her pull the iron off the ironing board and not seer or severely injure herself while he'd been pressing one of his suit pants that she had poured her water sippy cup over. Watching Chloe, who wasn't indestructible, climb on an unstable, scorching hot roof to collect Superman's baby sent him into a panic. He raced to the garage and activated the communication console in the car.

The wail of the fire engines got closer and he heard the honking of them pulling up the front driveway.

"Arrow to Watchtower. I need immediate assistance."

"Watchtower here. We have your position. Emergency services has already been dispatched to your location, fire crew and police are pulling up now."

"I need an evac. Boyscout's kid is in the house trapped. The crew can't find her. Do you get my situation?"

"Understood. Working through x-ray satellite images now to get a lock on her location. Are you secure? We'll beam her to you."

"Thank you, Diana," he said in gratitude, recognizing her voice.

"You can thank me with a ice mocha when she's safe, Arrow. Watchtower out."

He only had to wait ten seconds before a naked, sooty child was beamed into the front seat next to him. The longest wait of his life. Elara blinked up at him before wrapping her arms around his neck in a fierce grip that he almost choked. Her face was streaked with ash and dried tear tracks. He grabbed his overcoat from the back seat and wrapped it around her. He wished he had time to reassure her properly but Chloe needed to see she was safe. He got out of the car and rounded to the trunk. Popping the trunk, he retrieved the packed day bag he had for her, and pulled out a t-shirt and a diaper. Grateful that he frequently forgot to bring in the bag from the car after arriving home. Dressing her quickly, he slipped out of the back of the garage and made his way around to where Bruce was comforting Chloe where firefighters and dragged them back to the edge of the yard and out of the way of the fire crew.

Bruce noticed him first and nodded, the tension in his face immediately relaxing at the sight of Elara. He said something to Chloe and her head whipped in his direction before she tore herself from Bruce's arms and rushed him.

Chloe barreled into them and Oliver was almost knocked off his feet. Chloe brushed Elara's dry hair from her eyes with the back of her hand and peppered her small face with kisses. "How did you?" she paused, shaking her head, not really caring about the how. Suspecting that he probably couldn't really discuss it in public anyway. They'd been ordered to stay back from the house and there were still emergency crew hurrying about around them. "Ollie, thank you."

Oliver cupped her face and contemplated kissing away the tears in her eyes when he noticed her red lacerated hands and remembered what had happened to her. He took her wrist gently and lead her back to the garage.

They sat inside his car, Chloe held Elara on her lap while Oliver dressed her wounds. The skin was blistered, red and broken. He flinched, his heart skipping a beat with every hiss and gasp of pain she vocalized. Her whole body was trembling from the shock but she had a smile on her face and in her eyes for Elara who was snuggling against her chest.

Using tweezers and small surgical scissors, Oliver cut away the dead skin and flushed the wounds with water. Spreading a liberal amount of burn gel over both of her hands, he put a clean dressing over her palms were the deepest burns were and wrapped and secured bandages around her hands, including her fingers. When he was done, her hands looked like oven mitts. The whole time he'd been caring for her, his heart never returned to it's regular beat. She could have died a horrific death several times tonight, and he'd never told her how he'd felt. How important she'd come to be to him, how seeing her amongst those flames earlier had literally almost wrenched his heart in his chest. He faced danger head on with a smile on his face on a regular basis but seeing her there, frozen, bullheadedly determined to launched herself into a perilous situation to save someone who wasn't really in any danger and scared the life out of him. While he wanted to shake her silly for her actions, he couldn't blame her. While his rational brain said Elara was never in any harm, one look at her sooty tear streaked face reminded him that she was still just a baby. He was supposed to protect her, regardless of whether she was physically invulnerable or not. Chloe obviously had a lot firmer grasp on that fact than he did, he was still learning.

He leaned over and kissed Chloe's temple tenderly. "I swear you ever sideline me and throw yourself headlong into a situation like that again, I'll strangle you myself."

Chloe snorted a laugh and hugged Elara with her arms while dropping her head to Oliver's shoulder. He put his arm around her and hugged her close.

"I could have lost you, Chloe," he said softly. "I don't know if I can survive that. You know I couldn't do this without you right?"

Chloe tilted her so she could see his face. "You're fine. You'd be fine, I'm sure there are heaps of women just lined up willing to be your beck and call," she joked lightly.

Oliver leaned away and Chloe straightened in confusion at what she read on his face. There was sadness and vulnerably in his eyes. "You're not replaceable, Chloe. Not to me." He shook his head at her. "When have I ever given you the impression that you're not the most important person in my life? Save for this little munchkin of course," he said with gruff affection, ruffling Elara's curls. She giggled and he smiled before his expression turned wary again, searching Chloe's face.

"So you don't... have a girlfriend, or a date... dates whatever in the city when you're not well, fulfilling your obligation to us?" Chloe at to look away when she noticed the flash of hurt in his eyes and she wanted to kick herself for ever buying anything Bruce had said without going directly to the source.

"Where is this coming from? I haven't been on a date since we became guardians and as for Elise, we broke up when I told her I was moving to Metropolis. It wasn't anything serious anyway. We'd only been seeing each other for about a week."

Chloe chewed down on her bottom lips, tears threatening to fall. She shrugged. "Bruce asked me out, and I turned him down because I felt it wasn't fair to you to ask you to look after Elara so I could go out. And then he said..."

The steering wheel made a cracking sound and Chloe looked at Oliver's profile. His jaw tight and a muscle in his cheek was twitching. "Came to drop off your bag my ass, that scheming, arrogant..." He threw open his door and stalked out of the garage.

Chloe scrambled to follow and then realized she couldn't get her door open because of her bandages. Shifting awkwardly, she maneuvered Elara and herself over the gear shift and hand brake to climb out of Oliver's open door.

She arrived in time to she Oliver hit Bruce square in the face and the man managed to duck the next time anticipating Oliver's swing.

Bruce chuckled as she spotted her with Elara on her hip. "So she told you I asked her to dinner? Can you really blame me?"

Oliver bristled. "You know something I don't, Wayne? Or was it one of your media clowns that cooked up the story? There isn't anyone else. Chloe and Elara are the only girls who matter to me."

Chloe bit the inside of her cheek at his impassioned outburst and felt her cheeks flush. Bruce winked at her and she had to avert her gaze. Somehow she got the impression that he knew the truth all along and that this crazy situation was exactly the kind of confrontation he'd hoped for. Why? To earn a broken nose? Was the man a masochist or something?

"Well now she knows," Bruce said satisfactorily. "And since I sorted out the fire chief here, which was really your job by the way, I guess I can get back to my hotel? Chloe, you left your laptop in your dressing room. I figured you might need it. Now I guess it was a good thing you did leave it behind. I left it on the porch, it should be untouched. The fire didn't get that far."

Chloe brightened and put her hand on her heart. "My life is on that thing. Thank you, Bruce."

Oliver snorted and sighed, knowing the truth of that statement. Chloe worked on her laptop every spare chance she got. He was surprised it wasn't surgically grafted to her person. It was either her laptop or her smartphone. "No one here believe in back-ups?"

Chloe elbowed him playfully and smiled. "Says the man with billions. That computer cost me a month's salary and I had a friend customize it with the best tech around, it's one of a kind and I consider it irreplaceable."

"I'd keep it close then. Along with anything else you consider irreplaceable," he added with another wink. "Goodnight, Chloe. Elara," he said touching her chubby cheek lightly. "Oliver," he said with a nod.

The trio watched the man walk away through the emergency crew, some of who were still controlling the blaze. There was no salvaging the house - it was completely gutted with fire now. The firefighters were just focusing on the parameter so that the flames couldn't spread to neighboring properties or their garage.

Chloe sat down on the lawn by the greenhouse and watched the red and orange flames. The glass was cool against her skin and felt nice considering her butt was still smarting. She wasn't going to remind Oliver of that injury. No one was seeing much less rubbing that area of her anatomy with burn gel but her.

"We need a place to stay for awhile, until they get done with their inspection and we deal with the insurance company. Come stay with me in the city."

Chloe grinned. "You're really ready to offer your bachelor pad to me and a baby that's possibly a moving fire hazard?" she said softly.

"I haven't lived the bachelor life for almost a month. And besides, we know for a fact how quickly something can be lost. What's most important is right here," he said hugging her closer.

Chloe tried to swallow the impossible lump that had formed in her throat and leaned her head on his shoulder, trying not to over-analyze the tightening in her chest and the warmth that flooded her at how safe and cherished she felt tucked against him. She wished she hadn't, because she was afraid of the future but she couldn't deny it any longer. She really had fallen for him.

:::

to be continued...


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

As it was, they only managed to spend two days together in Metropolis before Oliver was called back to Star City. Meanwhile, Chloe found herself partly relieved but sorely missing his presence. There was no denying the fact that it was easier to work through her feelings when he wasn't around.

The worker's strike at one of the lead manufacturing plants meant he had to go back to attend the meetings with the Union's representatives and his board of directors. The strike couldn't have been worse timing for Oliver's company having the deadline for a major contract looming and his wanting to spend more time with Chloe and Elara. However, for the workers it meant more leverage for them to have their demands met, even if they were unaware of the latter reason.

Having the situation come up so quickly, Chloe had no time to figure out her work schedule and had to bring Elara in with her. With Bruce's support and Perry's understanding regarding the radical change in her living circumstances, they made Chloe's hours as flexible as possible, meaning she only had to stay for the forty-minute prep before going on air, and the hour shoot. She bought a basket of toys for Elara and healthy snacks to keep her occupied while she was away, one of the PAs doubling as a babysitter.

For the entire show, Chloe was a wreck about leaving the little girl in someone else's care. And still with her hands in bandages she was very conscious about not moving her hands as much as she would from behind the large spray of exotic flowers that had been strategically placed across the news-desk.

While she survived the separation, and Elara was napping by the time she was done, she resolved to bring in help to spare her nerves. Thankfully Bart answered her cry for assistance and was only too happy to play babysitter to the toddler.

Although, the one time she came back to the apartment to find both he and Elara covered in make up, glitter and wearing plastic tiaras, she began to doubt her initial thought that he was a suitable role model for her very young impressionable niece.

The day that Oliver left, Chloe left a small box of from Smallville's Jewellers & Loans on Oliver's dresser. She'd had a set of platinum cuff-links made with his family crest. If he already had a pair, she'd never seen him wear them. He had a diamond studded pair, a silver and onyx pair and a titanium pair. She knew how proud he was of his parents, she thought considering she felt like she owed him for saving her family and misjudging him, that the gift seemed fitting.

It was Valentine's Day tomorrow and she had a special surprise planned for him, even though he wasn't due back till later in the week. She wasn't about to let the holiday skate by uncelebrated, even if the guy she was starting to have strong feelings for was going to be spending it in another state.

Online she ordered a box arrangement of red roses, along with silver and green helium balloons to be delivered to his office first thing in the morning. And then from his favorite bakery, she ordered the Valentine's Day special apple and cinnamon danish baked in the shape of a heart. She knew it was a little sappy but if he even got a laugh out of it, then she'd accomplished her goal.

When Oliver called through on her laptop later that evening after Elara had gone down for the night, she was curled up on the duvet, watching TV on his 52-inch Sony LCD.

_"Isn't that my room?"_

Chloe grinned. "My room doesn't have a TV."

Oliver chuckled._ "I can get you one."_

"Is that an indirect way of saying get out of my room?" Chloe asked, arching an eyebrow. "Cause I can go."

Oliver shook his head with a smile._ "No stay, I think I like the picture of you in my bed,"_ he said with a smirk.

Chloe snapped the laptop shut and got up.

_"Hey, I was just kidding around. Chloe? Chloe, come on. It's a joke."_ His voice filtered through from the speakers.

She reopened the laptop when she sat down in the living room. The wounds on her fingers had healed up but were still extremely sensitive so she kept any typing to a minimum. He wouldn't have fodder for any more innuendo with no bed in sight. She set it down on the coffee table and frowned at the blacked out screen, the window said that the call was still connected.

The light came on and she realized he'd moved too. She unconsciously adjusted her flesh colored pressure bandages that covered the clear dressings on her palms. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she sat back and waited for him to reappear.

_"We're officially in neutral territory, I presume,"_ he said settling back in front of the camera.

Chloe smirked. He was out on the terrace of his city apartment.  
_  
"You want to see the sights from up here?"_

"I've been to Star City before, stayed in Star Towers actually, so nothing I haven't seen."

Oliver snorted._ "I guess not. You're no easy woman to please are you?"_

Chloe scoffed in retaliation. "That's not true."

After a short pause, Oliver leaned back in his lounge chair and put his feet up. _"I guess we should talk about... you know. Our little munchkin being indestructible?"_ he said waggling an eyebrow at her.

Chloe rolled her eyes and smiled at his choice of words. "How long have you known?"

_"Where it came from or when I figured out it got passed on?"_

"Both," Chloe said with a sigh.

_"Well the first one was sort of obvious when he picked a car off my back, only I didn't figure out the connection between the two until I saw Clark in person. I'm a guy who pays attention to detail, glasses, a bit of a hunch and some hair gel might work on the rest of them but it didn't fool me. Although, he's pretty good at throwing people off with the voice, how he can go from meek and bumbling, to regal and confident in presence and word choice is amazing."  
_  
"Clark put his MENSA level IQ to good use every day with his multi-tasking and outsmarting Lex. He might play the hick sometimes but you're the ignoramus if you buy it."

Oliver laughed. _"I have to admit, he did fool me for about five minutes but one of his shared looks with Lois and I had him pegged."_

Chloe smiled fondly at the thought. "No one could ever get under his facade quite like Lois. They really were perfect for each other. They brought out the best in each other, and even...I guess in love, it doesn't matter how physically indestructible you might be... to the one who loves you... you're just, well you're not." She wiped at a stray tear. "I always wonder if maybe I could have kept her away that day. I didn't exactly try to stop her. With the things we've gone through in the past, I knew how dangerous it could get and I warned her but I didn't stop her."

_"Lois made her own decisions, Chloe. She's pretty stubborn, a lot like her cousin actually,"_ he said with a wink. Chloe stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed. "It's not your fault that she was out there, that she threw herself in front of him. You're her family, but you couldn't control her, anymore than you could control the weather. Like I can't stop this crazy woman from trying to run back into a fire, when she should be running away from it."

Chloe blinked at him, her eyes watering. "What can I say, love hardly makes you rational."

"No, it doesn't," he said quietly.

Chloe glanced at the grandfather clock as it chimed the hour to be eleven and hugged herself with a long sigh. "Well, princess is gonna be up at her usual sunrise hour, and I don't have my early bird buddy to save me from that, so I better head to bed."

_"I've got a 9 A.M. board meeting, so unless I want to fall asleep during negotiations, which are going really well by the way, we might even finish up tomorrow. I'm going to turn in too."_

"We'll be glad to have you back. Goodnight, Ollie."

Oliver yawned at the same time she did and grinned behind his hand. _"Sleep well, Chloe."_

He watched her end the call and sat staring at his black screen for a long while after she'd gone. He pictured her walking through his apartment flicking off all the lights, before she reached the guest room and lift the covers to crawl into bed. In his mind's eye he rewound that process and had her turning the handle to his room. He imagined himself there, waiting for her. Watching a slow smile spread across her face as he flipped down the covers on the vacant side of the bed, inviting her to join him. He blinked and ran a hand over his face, shifting uncomfortably at how hard he'd become over the thought. It had been way too long since he'd been with a woman, far too long by his standards.

He couldn't let his sexual frustration show. He wanted her to know that his feelings for her were genuine but before that, he had to know where she stood. He wasn't use to rejection. Chloe was the only woman who'd ever seemed immune to his charm. She felt differently toward him now. He knew she did, she treated him warmly, spared him the easy smile and happy laughter he'd once thought that only her family and Bart had been privy to but did she feel the way he did? She depended on him, and enjoyed having him around. She might even have been convinced that he wasn't the self centered playboy that she'd once accused him of being, but did she feel anything more than friendship for him? He couldn't get a good read on that and for the first time in his life, he was afraid to just put himself out there. He'd always been so sure of where he stood with women, more often than not they were the ones who pursued him. He was in unfamiliar territory where Chloe was concerned and there was so much more than just his possibly wounded ego at stake, there was Elara to consider too.

After they'd met up with the Social Services worker for the last time a couple of weeks ago, she'd warned them not to get involved unless they were completely serious about one another.

:::__

**Previously**__

Ms Attkinson tucked her folder back in her satchel. She smiled at Oliver and nodded at Chloe. "I believe everything is in order. If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to give me a call. I wish you both all the best."

They stood and walked her to the door. Chloe looked up at Oliver and as they ushered her out, Oliver gave her a wink and Chloe blushed. Neither of them noticed the disapproving look Ms. Attkinson spared them.

She coughed to get their attention. "Just a word of advice, if I may."

Chloe straightened and braced her hand on the door frame, wishing she could tell her she may not, but held her tongue.

"I'm glad you see that you are interacting a lot more amicably with each other. Frequent contact can change ones perspective, either for the better or for worse. In your case I see a vast improvement. It may have to do with the fact that you've embraced parenthood, Miss Sullivan. I did get a very good report from the group instructor about your classes."

Chloe bristled while Oliver gave her elbow an encouraging squeeze. "Told you, you're a natural."

"As I was saying," she said with a light tsk in Oliver's direction for his interruption, and Chloe had to stifle a smirk. "If you decide to change the status of your relationship, I hope you consider the gravity of that choice as it might threaten the secure and stable environment you've established for Elara. If you do pursue an adult relationship and things end badly, it could also negatively impact the relationship you both have with Elara. And she shouldn't be the one to suffer from your mistake."

"Oh I assure you, Ms. Attkinson. We're not interested in each other that way at all. We're just friends. Besides, Oliver's not my type."

Ms. Attkinson nodded but her face showed her disbelief of that statement. "Okay then."

Oliver watched the woman get into her car before casting a sidelong glance at Chloe, wondering just what she implied by her sentiment, and found himself wondering if he could ever change her mind. So what was her type then?

Chloe had mentioned that Bruce had asked her on a date. Although nothing had ever eventuated there, Oliver couldn't help recalling that she hadn't turned him down because she hadn't been interested. And then there was Bart. He knew how the younger man felt about Chloe, and the fact that Chloe had called Bart and asked for his help did bother him. Bart had implied that Chloe was the love of his life before, that she just didn't know it yet. What if he was using this opportunity to prove to Chloe that he could be the man in her life? With that thought, Oliver made the firm decision that he was going to press for a resolution tomorrow, whatever it took. He needed to see Chloe again and he was going to push his doubts aside and just put himself out there. She had to see what a great team they made, how perfect a family unit they'd turned into. If not, he'd just have to convince her to let him prove it.

:::

**The following day**

Coming home from work after seeing roses, candies, delivery vans and florists overflowing with Valentine's Day themed arrangements and TV specials and radio jocks all proclaiming the holiday with nothing to show for it herself, Chloe was in a gray mood to say the least. She hadn't heard so much as one phone call from Oliver, and the call center that she'd been routed to, to track if her delivery had been made could only confirm that it had been signed for.

Letting out a pent up breath, she rode up to their apartment and stepped off the elevator to dimmed lights and a table set for two. Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes immediately went searching for the decorator.

"Bart," she called out hesitantly, while unbuttoning her coat. She put her jacket and her scarf on the coat stand and set her bag by the door.

Bart appeared with a white chef's apron and a sliver tray. "Please sit, Licious. Dinner is served."

Chloe blushed and swept the fringe from her eyes in a nervous gesture. "Bart, this is really sweet but you shouldn't have." She walked slowly to the table where he stood waiting behind her chair. He pushed her in and lifted the bell cover to reveal a plate of greens, creamy potatoes and mushroom sauce covered steak. He poured her wine and in a flash he was seated across from her.

"I did yours medium-well cause I know you don't like it too red."

She stared at the plate that was still steaming. "You made this?" she said in surprise.

"I can cook you know. With my appetite I learned by the time I was ten. My nan could never keep up with my stomach."

Chloe gave him an impressed smile. "Well I am starving." She cut into her steak and popped a small piece into her mouth, it was deliciously tender and the sauce was divine on her tongue.

They enjoyed their meal in companionable silence and it wasn't until he set the sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and whipped cream down in front of her, that Chloe realized he wasn't going to back down from that invisible boundary that she'd set between that had always separated their friendship from something more. He'd gone all out with her favorites, the scallop potatoes, the Leen van der Mark tulips, and dark roasted Sumatra Mandheling coffee. He'd even served up one of her childhood favorite desserts that her mother used to make every Christmas and Thanksgiving. With the steaming dish settled in front of her, she felt her throat tighten and her eyes well up with tears. He really was a sweetheart, and the most fun-loving guy she knew. She was never bored around him and no matter what disaster he might inadvertently or intentionally create, she could never stay mad at him.

Even as she looked at the hopeful look on his face however, she didn't feel that nervous excited flutter in her stomach, or feel her pulse race under his touch, he did make her pray that he moved just a little bit closer so she could feel his warmth and smell his aftershave and the scent that was distinctly him, or make her daydream about the way his kissed, that made her whole body tingle and her toes curl, forgetting the fact that her niece was only four inches way. She put a hand to her throat, fighting back the clog of tears that were forming there at the pain she was undoubtedly going to bring him with what she had to say.

"Bart..." she started softly.

Bart dipped his head with a sight grimace and then put his hands on the table, twisting his napkin before meeting her eyes again. "I know what you're going to say," he said with a twitch of a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "It was a long shot, but I don't regret it. I like you a lot Chloe, I think I might even love you, but I guess... who am I kidding, I know you don't feel the same."

"That's not true," she protested reaching for his hand. "Bart, you're the sweetest, most thoughtful guy I know. And this past week, you've been a life saver. Honestly. I care about you a lot, but not the way you deserve. She's out there, the one. I promise you." Chloe patted his hand. "I'm starting to believe Lois was right. I wouldn't know my soul mate if I tripped over them, but I'm starting to see."

Bart left his seat and dropped a kiss on her cheek. He did it so quickly, she never even saw him move. "I hope he makes you happy, the way you deserve."

Chloe nodded through her tears.

Oliver stepped off the elevator and blinked at what he saw. "9 hours of non-stop negotiations, 4 hours in the jet and this is what's waiting for me." He shook his head with a weary huff. "Don't stop on my account. I'm heading to bed."

Bart flashed Chloe an apologetic smile. "And I swear I didn't know he was coming back today, sorry. I'll leave."

Chloe nodded. "Thank you for looking after Elara, and for everything else," she said waving at the table.

"You're welcome," he gave her a wink and disappeared.

Chloe wanted to call his cowardice but looking at the stormy expression of hurt on Oliver's face, she couldn't blame him. She wanted to plead exhaustion and escape to her room too, but there was still the clean up to do, and she did owe him some explanation. It was his apartment afterall. "I didn't realize you were coming back today. You didn't call," she said.

Oliver ran a hand through his hair, while he looked around the room. "You didn't get my flowers?"

Chloe startled and reddened, folding her hands together so he wouldn't see them shaking. "You sent me flowers?" she asked hesitantly.

"A big arrangement of... never mind," he said in annoyance and stalked out of the room.

Chloe wanted to follow him and thought better of it, considering his mood. She picked up the dishes from the table and found him in the kitchen, bellowing into the phone about overpriced services that don't deliver while drinking from a bottle of water. She put the plates in the sink and hastily retreated from the kitchen.

She returned later when she saw him storm past the living room to stack the dishwasher and then went to her bedroom.

There was a loud knock on her door when she was just settling to sleep and she startled. Smoothing back her hair, she sat up and flicked on the bedside lamp. "Come in."

Oliver framed the doorway and his face was partially obscured by the enormous arrangement of white orchids, forget-me-nots, primrose and pink roses. Not a traditional Valentine's bouquet and she wondered what inspired it.

"These were for you," he said thrusting them in her direction.

Chloe blinked and chuckled lightly. "Not the most heart warming gesture. You didn't get the arrangement I sent you obviously."

Oliver lowered his load so that he could see her face, disbelief evident in his eyes. "You sent me something?"

Chloe sighed. "I guess that's a warning for next time, never rely on a service on the only holiday of the year that florists actually sell out."

"What did you get me?" he asked, his voice softening considerably, the hint of a smile gracing his lips. She hadn't forgotten about him, she had been thinking of him today. The one day of the year everyone had an excuse to submit to cupid's arrow.

Chloe felt a twinge of butterflies in her stomach at the return of the cheeky sparkle in his eyes and hugged herself nervously, while he walked into the room and set the flowers on her desk. Making himself comfortable on the end of her bed, he smiled at her and patted the spot next to him.

Chloe tucked her hair behind her ear, she crawled over and shrugged. "I just got you the usual things, roses, baked goods, balloons."

The light dawned in his eyes and he laughed. "That huge rose box with balloons and ribbons was from you? I thought it was the office making fun over my lack of love life."

Chloe bristled, he made it sound so impersonal and fangirlish. "I did send you the danish you like too."

He chuckled. "That I did get. Thank you." He impulsively hugged her to his side and kissed her temple.

Chloe stiffened at that but immediately put her hand over his to trap his arm around her when he moved to pull back. "Ollie," she said quietly, turning slightly so she could see his face. "What do the flowers mean?"

She saw a flicker of panic cross his face before he narrowed his eyes at her. "I guess the better question would be what did I walk in on before?"

Chloe shook her head. "It was just two friends having dinner. Bart thought it could be something more and I told him there was someone else." She felt him tense and wondered if his heart really was beating as hard as hers was. With the way he interlaced his fingers with hers, she started to believe that maybe they really were on the same page. "But it all depends on if the pink roses just mean thank you for helping out, or if they're more hopeful, like thank you and I'm thinking of you and..."

Oliver dipped his head and captured her lips in a gentle kiss when he pulled away and took her chin with his thumb and index finger, he smiled at her indulgently. "Does that answer your question?"

Chloe chewed down on her bottom lip and eyed him coyly. "Maybe, but I think I might need a bit of clarification. Maybe a repeat just to be sure."

Oliver growled at her and jab her side playfully. "Only one repeat? I don't think I'll consent to that."

"Maybe I'm the kind of girl that needs reminding all the time," she slotted in helpfully pushing him back on the bed, and straddling his waist.

Oliver flipped them and pinned her down, holding her wrists while he stared down at her. "The roses were for what I hope to have with you. The orchids express how I feel when I'm around you. That I'm a different man, a better man than I was. The forget-me-nots are because you've given me so many happy memories, even if you scare me crazy, beat me up constantly or you're yelling... I don't know, you just have a way of only letting me hang onto the perfect moments in those memories. And the primrose... I'm not sure I can tell you that yet," he frowned at her and pulled back, rolling to his side and supporting himself on his elbow.

When he'd looked up online the meaning of the flower he'd been so sure, secretly happy that he wouldn't have to tell her what they meant, but her inquisitive nature would win out and she'd find out all on her own. It was win-win, he could let her know how he felt, without actually having to say the words.

Chloe touched his arm. "Ollie, you want to know what I wrote in the card?"

Oliver looked back at her, where she'd rolled on her side, mirroring his pose. "There was a card?"

Chloe nodded. "I wrote, With love on Valentine's day. From the two girls in Kansas waiting for you."

Oliver got up off the bed and retrieved the card from the arrangement. He wordlessly offered it to her.

"To the only two ladies in my life," Chloe read aloud. She scrambled off the bed and stood on her tiptoes to give him a chaste kiss.

Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her closer, trapping her and deepening the kiss, she didn't try to escape. When they broke apart and he set her on her toes again. She was staring up at him with an expectant, wanting look her eyes.

He swallowed, as much as he wanted to pursue where the next moment might take him if he kissed her again, he wanted to prove to her that she was more than just a convenient choice.

"Thank you for being my Valentine, Chloe. It's late, we'll both be up early, no doubt. Goodnight," he said. He leaned down and kissed her cheek before leaving her bedroom.

Chloe stood there staring at the door closing with a frown, wondering what had just changed and why Oliver, the man who had once been toted to have bedded two women at once, had just turned her down.

With a pout, and her eyes smarting, she refused to let her over zealous insecurities ruin the happy vibe his gift and his kisses had given her. Maybe he wanted to take it slow. It would probably be a first for him. With a sigh, she realized that was probably the most responsible thought he could have had, and that he'd definitely been the only one thinking at that moment. They couldn't afford a fling if that's all it was, since they had Elara to consider. However her heart clenched at the thought of his eyes as he'd looked at her before he left and she hugged her pillow as she crawled under the covers. The flowers, his words and his expression told her, that he was in this as head over feet as she was. When she finally did fall asleep, it was with a small smile on her face.

_to be continued..._


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The next morning, when she arrived in the kitchen he pressed a hot mug of coffee into her hands and kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." He chuckled at her bed-head look.

She blushed at the feel of his lips on her skin and was immediately more alert. She took a tentative sip of the coffee and closed her eyes savoring the taste and aroma. It was the coffee Bart had bought her and it had been prepared perfectly.

Lowering the mug, she noticed Elara toddling about the kitchen, happily emptying cupboards and drawers. She smiled when she caught on that there were no breakables or sharps in any of them. Bart must have put everything up in the overheads. They hadn't gotten around to installing more safety latches yet. They'd only done the bare minimum since the impromptu move, a safety gate for his spiral staircase and anti-slip mat for the bottom of the bath. None of this was really for Elara's benefit considering she was invulnerable, it was more so for their safety and Chloe's sanity. Chloe considered just forgoing the safety latches in the kitchen and just letting the little girl continue with her exploration. Oliver certainly didn't seem to mind the mess on the kitchen floor, or the pile of DVDs on the rug in the living room which had once been his genre, alphabetized movie collection.

"I have to head in, but I'll call you later. I want to make plans for our date."

Chloe nearly choked on her coffee. "Date?"

Oliver grinned at her and kissed her forehead as he passed on his way out. "To make up for our fabulous first date," he called over his shoulder. He jabbed the button for the elevator and Chloe peeked her head around the corner to watch him leave.

"Thank you for the coffee."

"You're welcome." He nodded with a smile as the doors closed.

**:::**

She was a nervous bundle of excitement the rest of the day waiting for his call. It came in the form of text around noon.

_"Hope you're free Saturday night. Someone has to make up for trying to hijack my Valentine's Day so we're covered for a sitter."_

Chloe smirked at the message and typed her acceptance before pocketing her phone to track down Elara. Now that she was walking, she got around so quickly, Chloe would blink and she'd be gone.

She found the little girl in a room she hadn't be in before. Oliver's apartment was about four times as big as her city apartment had been, and half of the doors she passed she assumed were storage closest or one of the several guest rooms, made up similar to hers. She'd never thought to ask him for a tour. He'd pointed out the necessities when they'd moved in; kitchen, main bathroom, it felt like over kill since all of the rooms she'd seen had their own bathroom. There was the living room right outside the elevator, but he'd shown her the home theater room and sky deck too.

"Elara?" Chloe called.

The room was full of exercise equipment; a hanging boxing bag, a Bob Body Opponent, various exercise machines she had no idea how to use, an exercise bike and a treadmill and archery targets, as well as several training mats. She knew Oliver worked out every morning, but she had no idea it was to this extent. No wonder he was built like an athlete. She frowned at the bows on the wall and the full quiver of arrows standing to one side. He never mentioned that he was into archery. From the deep indents in the targets she could tell he was quite the marksmen. On one there was a neat row of marks in a straight line going from the top to the bottom. Show off, she thought with a smirk.

Chloe heard a giggle of laughter and searched for the source. She found her niece sitting on the light fixture with a 30-pound dumbbell in her hands. She barely managed to jump out of the way when Elara left go of the thing and it crashed into the floor embedding in the polished timber.

Elara looked at her face and Chloe narrowed her eyes at the little girl. "It's not a toy," Chloe said sternly. "Come here."

Elara gave her an enormous pout and a watery eyed look while floating down slowly. Chloe immediately left the room with her, and closed the door firmly. If there was one thing she could be grateful for in all the craziness she had to cope with, it was that Elara was a very obedient, contented child, who rarely acted out or threw tantrums.

"I don't know how we're going to teach you how to control your abilities, but this learning as we go has gone on long enough. We're calling Grandma and she's going to give me a crash course in dealing with Kryptonian abilities. Or maybe... gee, I have no idea why we didn't think of it before, maybe your Grandpa Jor-El can suppress your Kryptonian side until you're a bit older."

Elara just stared up at her with a bewildered expression before her little face broke out in a wide smile, obviously happy that her aunt had forgotten that she was upset about the damaged floor.

**:::**

Oliver got back late from work so by the time the elevator doors opened, Chloe passed him Elara and hurried in, jabbing the ground floor button.

"Be careful out here, there's already been three car accidents because of the sudden storm."

Chloe nodded in acknowledgment and watched them until the doors closed. Oliver shifted Elara in his arms put his wet coat and briefcase down.

"So what did you get up to today, pumpkin? Are there any blocks I have to pry out of the ceiling, or did you just hide all my pens like last time?"

Last week, he'd gone into the study in Lois and Clark's home to discover that he couldn't find a single pen. He'd searched the kitchen and the living room to no avail. He had been tempted to ring Chloe but decided not to bother her at work. He'd just gone down to the store bought another box and put them in the drawer in the desk, where he'd stored his other ones. The next day when he'd come in to go over reports, he'd discovered not only were the pens missing but the highlighters too. It was then he realized he had a little pen and marker thief. He installed one of his GA spy cams to catch her out and to figure out where she'd put them all.

He'd found various heating vents in the house chock full of them. Elara thought it was hilarious watching them fall though the grates and disappear. It had taken him an entire afternoon in the basement to disconnect the ducts and retrieve all the items she'd dropped into them.

**:::**

The storm that had enveloped the city early afternoon had turned into a small hurricane in a matter of hours, it had taken out the network's two satellites, and what had initially seemed like a small technical hitch with broadcasting, they were forced offline until repairs could be made. And considering the lightening storms that had started, it made progress even slower than the first anticipated. They taped the rest of the show and fed it through one of their location vans to be aired on a sister network at a later hour.

As a result she'd left early and had taken the bus to avoid the gridlock Midtown had turned into. She thanked town planning and the mayor for insisting that they have a dedicated public transport and transit lane so people who couldn't afford serious delays had a way of keeping to schedule.

By the time she got into the building and input the code to take her to the penthouse, she was shivering and soaked through.

As she exited the elevator, a small frown creased her forehead as she took in the silence that permeated the apartment. "Oliver?" she called out.

When no reply came, she peered into the living room before heading down the hallway to Elara's room. Maybe Oliver took Elara out for a treat, she thought to herself. That certainly seemed like the most likely scenario in her mind.

That was at least until she stepped into Elara's room and discovered that the cot was also missing. "Okay, there's probably a rational explanation for this," she said out loud even as she quickly scrolled down the list on her cellphone for Oliver's number.

Pressing 'send', the uneasy feeling intensified as a her ears picked up the sounds of a familiar ring-tone coming from down the hallway.

Oliver wasn't the forgetful type. He was meticulous with his organizational skills, if anything he reminded her of the necessities sometimes, like her coffee thermos, where she'd left her keys, where around the apartment she'd left her laptop power cord. She found his phone in the kitchen and frowned, ringing it again. She noticed the screen flash with call forwarding.

"Chloe?" He sounded a little breathless and she thought she could hear the sound of rain and thunder in the background.

"You took Elara out in this weather?"

Oliver stopped in his pursuit of the reckless driver and instead shot an EMP arrow at the hood, the car slowing to a stop several meters away. Whatever the driver's problem, he'd be walking it off now. He frowned trying to think on his feet for a suitable explanation. "Ah, she was having trouble getting off to sleep so I thought I'd take her for a drive."

"And what happened to the cot?"

Oliver's shoulders tensed and he let out a slow breath. She was home, he was so busted. "Ah... I'll be home in about ten minutes, can we pick this up then?"

"Okay, stay safe on the road."

When Oliver came in the door later, he was dripping wet. He'd planned to come home an hour before her shift was supposed to end so he hadn't bought a change of clothes. He'd had to use what was in his trunk and changing in a deserted alley in a torrential down pour meant that not only was he soaked to the skin, but he squelched with every step.

Chloe stood waiting in front of the elevator when he arrived.

"Where's Elara?" she said folding her arms across her chest, not even commenting on his appearance.

Oliver set his bag containing his uniform and his equipment on the floor and clenched his fists at his sides. "I don't suppose you're going to let me grab a shower before we hash this out?"

Chloe looked at the large duffel bag on the floor and before she could grab it, Oliver took her wrist.

"There's something I never told you about how Clark and I first met."

"Clark said he met you at a workers' strike..."

"That's when he met Oliver Queen," Oliver said sheepishly, running his hands through his wet hair.

"The night before, he helped defeat Count Vertigo. I told you I was trapped under a car and..."

Chloe clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening. She looked a him in disbelief. "The rigorous physical training, the archery, oh my gosh I can't believe I didn't see it before." She turned away from him looking at the huge half clock face that stood in the middle of the room, she always wondered what was behind that since it seemed like a large area of unused space. She speculated once that maybe it was an old elevator shaft or a stairwell that led to the roof but now she suspected that it was his secret hero room. She turned back to him and narrowed her eyes with a glare. "The cot! You have your space buddies babysitting so that you can play Green Arrow?"

Oliver gaped at her. "Play? Is that you think I do out there? She's perfectly safe by the way. I trust the man who's watching her with my life. It's what Clark did every day, how is this different?"

Her mouth fell open and she was struck dumb with anger. "Different? For one Clark's invulnerable, and two, he left Elara with Lois!" she cried throwing up her arms. "They left Elara with us. They trusted us. And I trusted you," she said jabbing her finger into his chest. "I gave up my job, my home, everything for Elara."

Oliver stared her down. "You think I haven't lost just as much? I'm nearly two thousand miles away from the only place I ever called home. I hardly see any of my buddies anymore and I haven't patrolled since..."

She shot him a dirty disbelieving look and Oliver growled in frustration. So while he'd been away he had patrolled, especially in Star City but that wasn't the point. Detective John Jones had told him how much crime had risen since Superman's death, and even with other members of the League pitching in to help, they just couldn't do what Clark had.

"This is the first time I've trusted her to anyone but Bart and I just thought I'd give it a test run. You know how bad it is out there. You know I can help."

"You're just one man, Oliver," she said her voice wavering, tears filling her eyes. She was beginning to realize that she didn't really have a problem with where he'd been or what he'd been doing, but more of the fact that he hadn't told her. That he didn't trust her. Also, there was the nagging fear for his safety. He was only human.

Oliver sighed. "So was Clark, he was just stronger and faster..."

"And bullets can pounce off him like water off a duck's back. Oliver, you might be good, but you can bleed. With how it is out there tonight, you could have slipped off a roof broken your neck, and I wouldn't have known a thing."

Oliver saw her close in herself, watched her arms hug her body tightly and saw the tears in her eyes. He crossed the space between them and pulled her into his arms. "I'm not careless, Chloe. And I've got people watching my back. John was on comms. with me the whole time. And Elara's fine by the way, sleeping well, like a baby," he said with a small smile.

Chloe looked up at him, not caring that she was wet from the water seeping through to her skin from his wet clothing. "It's a good thing I know Detective John Jones, otherwise known as J'onn J'onzz very well myself or I'd be giving your instep a serious bruising right now," she said with deadly calm, and Oliver visibly shuddered at the slightly maniac gleam in her eye.

He let out an uncomfortable laugh and raised his hand to his ear. "J'onn, if you could send the package home, I'd appreciate it. Thanks."

_"She's be an absolute treasure. Didn't stir at all. Goodnight, Arrow. And tell Chloe that I was a large contributor in your returning to active duty."_

"Thank you J'onn, but I'll wear the responsibility of this one all on my own. I owe her that much."

"Now, you need to get out of those clothes-" Chloe smacked him on the chest as he chuckled. "Not like that, you perv."

On the way upstairs, Chloe checked into the nursery. Sure enough, there was Elara contentedly snuggled in her cot, sleeping soundly. She inched the door closed again and headed to her room for a shower and change of clothes of her own.

A few minutes later they met in the kitchen for a quick meal. Oliver put the water on while Chloe retrieved ready-made ravioli pasta from the fridge and a bottle of sauce from the cupboard. They sat down at the counter and she waited until he'd poured the wine before she started in with her questions.

"Were you planning on telling me at all, or were you hoping you could continue to sneak around?"

Oliver took a sip from his glass before looking at her thoughtfully. He pierced a few pieces of pasta before he dropped the fork again and folded his hands together considering whether he should tell her the whole truth or a half truth. He decided that if he wanted to pursue a long term solid relationship with her they needed total honesty between them. And considering the secret was already out, there was really no reason why he needed to hold back anymore.

"Did Lois and Clark have anything to do with why you never told me in the first place?" she speculated before putting another forkful in her mouth.

Oliver shook his head. "No, although I'm not really sure why you'd think that? Unless you mean because of the dynamics of the job, the risks it put on Lois' safety and their family. If anything, when I realized you'd kept Clark's secret, I was a little envious. You'd stood by him, probably since you grew up together... all those years. I've never had anyone in my life like that. Everyone who knows my secret has one of their own. They're part of the League. It was kinda obvious that you knew Bart's too. The funeral."

Chloe blushed. "Yes, he sprung that move on me the first time we met. It's kind of a thing now."

Oliver arched an eyebrow at her. "I thought you said there was nothing..."

Chloe waved him off. "We understand each other. I don't think I could ever put a stop to his flirting though. I think it's part of his charm. He can't switch it off. And he's harmless."

Oliver snorted and sipped his drink. "If you say so," he mumbled.

Chloe beamed. "So Green Arrow." She squinted at him. "I can't believe I never saw it before. Although in my defense there aren't as many photos of you as there are of the other League members. So now that I know the man behind the mask, do I get to see your secret lair?"

Oliver spluttered, "Lair? Isn't that what the villains call them? I have a cave in Star City. And there's a room behind the decorative clock face."

"I knew it. That's much too big of an area, a waste of space just to be a void."

Oliver snorted at her triumphant grin and dug into his pasta again. For the moment she seemed satisfied with her discoveries and finished the rest of her meal. He was clearing the plates when he noticed that she'd turned away from him staring in the direction of his Arrow Room.

He paused where he stood and wondered what she was thinking about now. She turned back to him and stood up, collecting their glasses. She followed him to the sink before she spoke up.

"I want you to be able to keep doing what you're doing. You're right, it's important. Especially with Superman gone." Oliver was about to profess his thanks at her understanding when she gave him a look that said she wasn't done yet. "But I'm not comfortable with beaming Elara to Watchtower."

"You know about that?"

"Who doesn't? The Justice League's Eye In The Sky, their HQ. Clark usually flies up there but Lois has beamed up before, and she said it was a very disorientating experience. I don't want Elara exposed to whatever technology you guys are utilizing until she can make that choice for herself, or in the event of an emergency. Which I'm guessing is how you rescued her from the fire."

Oliver ran a hand through his hair and scratched at his neck. "About that, I'm sorry I didn't think of that sooner. It would have meant that you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Chloe shrugged. "I don't think any of us were really thinking clearly that night. However, I'd like to know what Bruce's excuse was. You know, Mr. Cool-Calm-And-Collected-Detective, I-Plot-10-Moves-Ahead."

Oliver chuckled. "I'll have to ask him... wait a second, you know Bruce is-"

"Yeah, a few years ago. I guess I should be impressed that the few billionaires I know are actually trying to better the world, and that not all of them are ego manics with designs on world domination."

"So does he know that you know?" Oliver found it hard to believe that Bruce would have let that go lightly. Chloe was a civilian and a reporter. He wondered if that's why he'd employed her to work for his company, and why he'd been spending more time in Metropolis than usual. To keep tabs on her. Then again, Chloe had said she'd known for years, so Bruce must have been okay with it.

Chloe shrugged. "He's never confronted me, and I didn't ask him. I would have if I thought he was a bad guy but he isn't and just like all the other heroes identities I know, I keep it secret because they deserve their anonymity and the work they do is invaluable."

Oliver regarded her with awe. She never stopped surprising him with what she knew about their world and just how much she supported and understood their motivations and sacrifices. He felt incredibly lucky to have her in his life. And not for the first time, he wondered if she really was the one who could not only accept every part of him, but challenge him, be his equal. He took her hand and squeezed it, giving her a grateful smile. "Before you and Elara became a large part of my life, I usually slotted in my Green Arrow work between work as CEO of Queen Industries. All those parties, dinners and dates were pretty much just a front. I've never had a serious lasting relationship. I've never had a woman in my life, aside from Lois that hasn't wanted me for something; money, status, sex," he cringed a little at the last part and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I really see how you would have been terribly put out by that."

Oliver shook his head. "Honestly? You're right, in the past you wouldn't hear me complaining but watching all your friends settle into these really fulfilling relationships, where they compliment each other in every way, you start to realize that while it might feel good for an hour or two, afterward you feel even more hollow than before."

Chloe tilted her head and regarded him with a slow smile. "I know what you mean. But don't take this personal, this thing between us. I appreciated what you did the other night. We should go slow. We have Elara to consider and the last thing I want is for you to be just settling."

Oliver gave her a smirk. "Chloe, you're forgetting I was interested the day I met you. I'd hardly call this settling. If anything, I'd call this progress to finding what's real, what's honest, adult and life-changing. For once I've had to consider how my decisions will directly effect someone else's life, it's a little scary but it's also the most rewarding experience I've ever had. I mean it, you and Elara, this is it for me."

Chloe blinked back tears. "Your charm might just be working on me this time, Oliver Queen. However, I'm not going to sleep with you before our date."

He waggled his eyebrow at her. "Maybe after?"

Chloe burst out laughing at his big puppy-eyed expression and she tugged him down the corridor in the direction of the bedrooms. "The best I can give you right now is a goodnight kiss."

Oliver pouted and then pulled her close outside his door. "I guess I can live with that." He leaned down and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek before capturing her lips in a tender kiss.

_To be continued..._


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Chloe glanced at herself in the full-length mirror as she tried an experimental twirl. The soft fabric skirt of the dress rose up a bit from the gust she'd stirred before settling back down gracefully against her shapely legs. She wondered if Oliver would approve. She remembered that he did like the red dress she'd worn on their blind date. If she hadn't been worried that she might jinx this date she would have worn it again, consider his obvious approval of Lois' choice.

Elara seemed to like it as she giggled from her place on the bed.

Oliver hadn't mentioned where exactly they would be heading, but she knew she'd be pleasantly surprised either way. For the first time since the fire, she'd left her pressure bandages off to find that underneath the clear dressings Emil had covered her wounds with, the skin was healing nicely, the fresh pink skin barely scarred at all. Still self-conscious over her hands, she hid them in the folds of her dress. Where ever Oliver had booked, she hoped it wasn't anywhere too fancy that required a certain dress code, she'd picked a simple red sleeveless number, and coupled it with her Manolo Blahnik red d'Orsays. With the 4 and a ¼" stiletto heel she hoped he didn't intended to do much walking, but she looked forward to experimenting with the added height the shoes would give her. He certainly wouldn't have to lean down so much to kiss her. Chloe blushed at the thought. The man did have sinfully soft lips and such a sexy easy smile, and a grin that made her feel warm all over just by looking at it.

"Ohiee," Elara squealed happily.

Chloe turned and noticed Oliver lounging in the doorway wearing a dark suit that took her breath away. She knew he was handsome, he was a lean build with well formed muscles and as he flexed his arm to reach for her wrap from behind the door, Chloe felt her mouth run dry as she noticed the expensive wool fabric stretch and mold around his bicep.

"Ready to go?" Chloe could only manage a nod at his query not trusting her voice to sound light or steady just yet. Oliver scooped Elara off the bed and tossed her over his shoulder. "It's bed time for you munckin. Uncle Bart is going to be here watching out for you, but no mischief okay."

"Nucle Awrt."

Chloe chuckled. "Yes, he made a right artistic mess of both your faces with my makeup and the kitchen sink."

Oliver laughed. "Why didn't I get a photo of that? I could so use that as blackmail."

Chloe slapped his arm playfully. "That wouldn't be fair. And he did protest that it was all Elara's doing. Although he never really did explain where the plastic tiaras came from."

Oliver's lips twitched. "I think I'm better off not knowing."

They reached the living room where Bart was waiting, and Elara zipped out of Oliver's arms at Bart's legs. He must have seen her coming, because one second she was in Oliver's arms and the next Bart was tossing her in the air.

Chloe never could imagine what it must be like for him. While Elara moved faster than the eye could see to them. To Bart, well she was probably just moving regular speed.

"So what time are you guys getting back?"

Chloe shared a look with Oliver, her cheeks coloring slightly. "Ah, do you mind doing an all-nighter?"

Bart groaned as a mental image of his Chloe doing the naked rumba with Oliver popped up unbidden in his head. "Good thing I bought my iPod. When are the pizzas getting here?" he asked hurriedly, hoping to rid himself of the offending thought.

"Pizza will be here in twenty minutes, the burritos and churros in about ten."

Bart clapped his hands together. "Sweet. Oh, and what's she eating?"

Chloe smiled. "I didn't want her to feel left out so she's got a baby burrito and a couple quesadillas. I'm beginning to suspect she's inherited Clark's metabolism and Lois' appetite. She certainly eats a lot more than I thought the average child would for her age.

"Thanks for the grub, guys. Now get outta here, me and Baby Supes are going to play Xbox."

"You mean, you're gonna play and she's going to use the controller as a hammer." Oliver winced at the prospect of having his second favorite pastime damaged.

Bart winked at Chloe. "She's smarter than she looks. And it always helps to have reliable back up when you're taking on an army of Orcs." Unlike the computer player character, Elara always stuck close by and covered his flank. The first few runs through, she'd repeatedly been pummeled and he'd had to wait for her to re-spawn but now, she was just as good as him at executing moves, even if she was button jabbing, her hands too small to properly hold the controller. She was a frighteningly fast learner. He made sure never to play longer than half an hour with her, the non blinking when she had her concentrating face was a little unnerving.

Chloe rolled her eyes and tugged Oliver for the door while he looked at Elara in amazement. "Bart, just make sure she's in bed by 8 o'clock at the latest okay?"

"Sure thing," he said with a salute.

**:::**

Chloe tried to keep the apprehension off her face as they pulled up to the most exclusive French restaurant in Metropolis. She'd heard about this place, Susanna their foodie had raved about it's truffle dishes. They used a little black or white truffle in everything. From their appetizers to their ice cream. She didn't know a lot about the cost of ingredients, she was no gourmet chef but she did know that truffles were considered like gold and a rare commodity to the food world.

"You don't kid around about making good first impressions do you?" she joked lightly.

Oliver smiled and took her hand as their town car door was opened. "You rarely get the chance to do over that first impression that'll hopefully overshadow the horrible first run, so here we are."

Chloe huddled in on herself as the winter chill whipped up under her shirt. Her overcoat doing nothing to beat off the cold that hit her exposed legs.

Oliver looked down at her feet. "You look fantastic, but I guess we should get you inside before your toes turn blue."

From the moment they were seated at their window table overlooking the water, she tucked her hair behind her ear in an involuntary display of nervousness and Oliver took her hand, squeezing it and smiling warmly at her. Chloe looked over the menus that their waiter had brought and her eyes bulged at the prices. She put her free hand to her throat and glanced at Oliver. He chuckled at her expression.

"I think I'll bow to your wisdom here."

Oliver shook his head. "Order whatever you want. Chloe, it's not like it's going to hurt my wallet."

Chloe let out a short laugh. "It's not just that, I have no idea what half of these would even taste like. I hate to quote Lois but I'm really just a pasta or steak kind of girl."

Taking that into account Oliver ordered them their meals, with the list making Chloe's head spin with how many French words he rattled off. The only thing really standing out and registering was the word truffle in almost every third or fourth word. Her French was barely passable, as opposed to her fluent, Chinese or German. He truly did never cease to surprise her.

"Just please tell me we're not going to end up with any stuffed snails or caviar," she said with a visible shiver.

Oliver winked at her. "You'll just have to trust me."

As it turned out, she'd never had a more decadent or eye-opening dining experience. Her mouth was positively tingling with the variety of flavors. Their appetizers had been some kind of light soup with artichoke and beet stuffed ravioli, followed by mains of melt-in-your mouth Kobi beef topped with a rich mushroom sauce and truffle shavings on a bed of steamed asparagus. And honestly when the dessert dishes came out with a chocolate lattice topped mousse concoction, Chloe just looked at it longingly knowing she couldn't fit another spoonful in her stomach.

"I'm done, seriously. I'm never going to doubt you again, but I can't squeeze it in. Even if it does smell and look sinfully tempting."

"You might feel differently after you've had some coffee and we dance."

He extended his hand to her and Chloe blinked at him. "You expect me to move when I feel this stuffed?"

"Slow dancing," he said encouragingly. "I never did get that second dance."

Chloe wrinkled her nose at him. "After I gave you my best impression of an ice maiden, you were looking for round two?"

Oliver chuckled. "I rarely get to apply charm to that extent, you bring out the competitive streak in me. I couldn't live it down that Bart could get you to smile and all I got were these withering looks."

"I really was horrible to you back then. It wasn't fair that I judged you without knowing you at all. I'm not usually like that." Chloe stood from her chair and put her napkin on the table.

"I'm glad I was able to change your mind," he said lightly as she took his hand.

Oliver lead her to the dance floor and they took a spot among the couples already swaying to the live band. As he held her close, Chloe felt surrounded by his scent. The fresh hint of aftershave and a smell she'd come to know as signature to only him, soap, a touch of Shea and mango fragrance, which she'd learned came from the wax he used on his bow strings. She smiled at that knowledge, she was one of the few people he trusted who knew he wasn't just a playboy billionaire and CEO of a multi-national corporation, but a superhero and a member of the Justice League.

Chloe blushed as she remembered that not very long ago she'd looked at him like an egotistical, self-absorbed jerk, who'd been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and did little to help improve society beyond what might look good to investors. She knew differently now. Oliver was one of the biggest-hearted people she had the pleasure of knowing, and she realized why Clark and Lois had befriended him. He really was the kind of guy that was one in a billion, generous, kind, ambitious, self-motivated and it certainly didn't hurt his marketability that he was extremely aesthetically pleasing and charm seemed to be effortless for him.

Chloe rested her head against his chest and Oliver smile against her hair. While he'd preferred it long and past her shoulders, how it had been the first time he'd met her, the fire had singed a lot of it, so she'd had to cut it back. It was now just below her chin in length, but styled so it perfectly framed her heart-shaped face with soft curls.

"What do you say we bag dessert and head home?"

Chloe tilted her head back and rewarded him with a bright smile. "You read my mind."

Oliver found himself itching to leap out of his skin from the walk to the basement elevator from his car, and the ride up was even worse. They kept meeting each others eyes when they chanced sideways glances at each other, and finally when he finished punching in his code for the penthouse, he found himself pushed up against the elevator car wall.

Chloe leaned into him and reached up, pulling his head down for a shearing kiss. Moaning into her mouth, he pushed her coat from her shoulders and threaded his hands into her hair, lifting it in his hands and tangling it in his fingers. She'd pinned part of it up at the sides but left it product free, so it slid between his fingers like spun silk.

Her slender nibble fingers roamed over his chest from his belt buckle and over his shoulders, pulling his jacket down his arms. He shrugged it off and spun them so he had her trapped against the steel wall, his body taut and heated firmly against her front. He whipped his shirt over his head and it joined his jacket on the floor. Fleetingly it occurred to him that he didn't want to leave his shirt there, because he'd worn the cuff-links she'd bought him. He'd retrieve them later, no one would be using the elevator again until morning anyway. The thought left his mind as quickly as it had entered when her palms came in direct contact with his stomach.

Neither of them noticed that the elevator had stopped and the doors had opened, they were too busy with each other. The doors started to close and Chloe shot her arm out to stop it. They stumbled through the doors and Oliver kicked along their clothes with his foot, so they were out of the elevator too and they made their way into the penthouse wrapped up in each other.

They made it to his bedroom without being disturbed or rousing Bart, who'd been asleep on the sofa, the TV still playing in front of him.

Chloe giggled when Oliver closed his door and then pressed her up against it, reaching under her arm to pulled down the side zipper on her dress. He parted the edges and when it was loose, he pushed the shoulders of her dress down. The fabric whispered down her body and fell in a heap around her stilettos on the floor.

She lifted one foot to toe off her shoes but he captured her knee and anchored it over his hip. "Keep them on," he growled softly and Chloe gulped at how dark his chocolate brown eyes had turned, his pupils wide and fixed on hers in the darkness. He dipped his head so that his lips could search out and latch onto her neck. His tongue lapped her throbbing pulse point, and she buried her fingers in hair, trapping him there. Her body arching to his, her lace covered breasts grazing his naked chest. He hooked his arm around her waist and carried her to the bed, lowering her down and following after her.

Come morning, Oliver woke up and stretched lazily, feeling the space beside him. His eyes shot open and he blinked at the spot beside him where his hand had found cool sheets. She was gone. With a deep breath, he sat up slowly and swung his long lean muscled legs out of the covers. She'd left.

He pulled on sweats and make his way to the gym. He got in his regular work out, trying not to think about what her absence could mean. He found her in the kitchen after his shower, she was making pancakes, and he smiled a little realizing it was Sunday. Pancake Sunday. At least her routine hadn't changed.

"Missed you this morning," he said putting his hand on her hip, pulling her close before kissing her softly.

Chloe blushed. "Me too. I just think we need to keep some boundaries. For Elara, you know. We're not married or anything and I know what Clark would think about that so..." she trailed off, hoping he understood and wouldn't press the matter further. She hardly wanted to push him into something he wasn't ready for. She was still trying to get her own head around their change in status. What were they now? They'd gone from roomies to friends, and now, well they'd crossed the friends line. She nodded to herself at the thoughtful look on his face before going back to her frying. Things could get out of hand really quickly without boundaries, they'd just managed to convince their case worker that they were a solid, responsible partnership.

Oliver could see the doubts flicker across her face and brushed his thumb over her cheek, and hugging her once more from behind before he reached up for glasses and plates to set the table. He hoped he could prove to her with time that there was no one and nowhere he'd rather be than with her. Elara might have been the catalyst to them getting over their differences and misconceptions, but he'd fallen in love with her and right now he was afraid if he told her, she'd chalk it all up to projection of what he'd always secretly wished for and never had, the perfect family.

**:::**

The days and weeks flew by, and with contractors working around the clock, after Oliver's lawyers secured the payout from the insurance company, Clark and Lois' home was rebuilt. The furniture and belongings that weren't damaged in the fire or waterlogged they had put into storage and simply moved back in. Chloe, Oliver and Elara had enjoyed going through albums that had been untouched, locked in a cabinet in the downstairs study, to re-buy everything else that had been taken by the blaze.

Come Elara's first birthday, they'd done the place up that to anyone else, it would seem like nothing had changed. They invited the Kents and some of their closest friends who were also members of the League to celebrate not only the rebuild of the house but Elara's first birthday. Everything went off without a hitch and as both of them held the little girl up, so she could blow out her single big candle on her chocolate frosted, layered sponge cake, Chloe smiled widely and kissed her cheek.

Oliver winked at her over the top of the little girl's head, hoping that his eyes didn't betray any of the nervousness he felt over he small black box he had tucked in his jeans pocket. He'd planned this moment. He'd driven the workers with free beer and cash bonus to get the job done before Elara's birthday. He'd helped Chloe plan the party and even wrangled and blackmailed everyone who tried to plead they had other plans to be there to make the day perfect.

"Make a wish, honey," Chloe urged.

Elara gave a mighty blow and luckily, Bart with his quick hands saved the serving dish from sailing off the end of the table.

Suddenly the earth trembled and the house shook and a burst of light brightened the evening sky.

Oliver touched his hand to his communicator to find out what had happened, when Clark appeared in all of his Superman glory, complete with longer hair, a full beard and an animal skin for a cape. If it weren't for the familiar face and the giant S on his chest, Chloe might have been startled into believing that he was an escaped Belle Reeve resident who believed he was Superman from the stone age that had just invaded her dining room.

"Dada, Mama," Elara cried happily.

"Clark?" Mrs Kent whispered with a tinge of awe and disbelief.

"I don't have time to explain right now. Sorry, Oliver." Clark put his hand down on Oliver's shoulder.

Oliver's stomach dropped, one look at Chloe's face and he knew everything had changed. He wanted more than anything to pull her aside and make her forget what had just happened but Superman needed his help. And if Superman came calling, it meant the world needed saving, and right now that took precedent over his feelings, even if it felt like his one chance at perfect happiness might just slip away from him.

Chloe blinked, one second they were both standing there and the next they were gone. With an unsteady hand, she picked up the knife and forced a smile on her face. "Anyone want some cake?"

_to be continued..._


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

They'd been gone for twenty minutes. Chloe busied herself serving up cake, while Elara happily tottered around everyone's legs ripping up wrapping paper to tiny shreds, elated that there was something she could tear to confetti that nobody seem to mind in the slightest about.

For the lack of anything better to do to distract herself from the swirling thoughts in her mind, Chloe continued to find things to do, from collecting all the empty and dirty dishes from the table, to taking out the trash and filling the kitchen sink to start the washing up. Lois and Clark were back. Elara had her parents again. She was no longer obligated to fulfil guardian duty, and neither was Oliver. What were they supposed to do now, what were they going to do now?

Victor, a.k.a Cyborg and her tech wizard friend, had hailed Watchtower to get an update. She overheard him from the living room telling everyone else that there had been an electromagnetic anomaly in the atmosphere and suddenly, Superman's tracker had reappeared in Midtown Metropolis. It had briefly disappeared and now was headed in the direction of Metropolis again at hurtling speed. Watchtower was sending out a team to investigate the anomaly which J'onn suspected was related to the return of Superman. Bart offered to suit up and before anyone could argue otherwise, he was dressed and speeding out the door.

Jonathan calmly picked up the remote and Chloe watched from the kitchen as the screen blinked to life.

"Superman, Superman," reporters threw at him.

Chloe noted that he hadn't changed his appearance at all, but her eyes widened in amazement when she noticed Clark standing next to Lois.

"How did you survive on this distant planet and why did it take you so long to return?"

"Were their any other survivors? There are still three others also unaccounted for from Toyman's destruction of Metropolis. Did they return with you?"

Superman held up his hands. "We'll try to answer all the questions you have, with what we know and what we experienced? There were two young boys with us, but out of respect for their privacy at the request of their family, we are not at liberty to discuss them except to say that they are now safely reunited with their loved ones and their families should be proud to know that they acted bravely and selflessly for each other in extremely harsh circumstances. There was another who crossed through the portal beam Toyman's weapon created. But unfortunately, when we located her on the planet, she hadn't survived."

There was another roar of clambering voices but Superman stepped aside and Lois waited for the din of noise to quieten before she spoke up.

"I know you must have hundreds of questions, and in the days to come we hope that we can answer some of them. Considering both Clark and I worked for the Daily Planet and Wayne Enterprises Media network, we are obligated to give our stories to them. As for Superman, I suppose he's given everyone his exclusive right now."

Another series of rapid flashes lit the new broadcast feed as Superman again stepped up the the microphone.

"Some of you may be wondering why I look remarkably less groomed than usual and why I didn't just attempt to return to Earth to make contact on my own. On the planet I was without my natural abilities, so I was as mortal as the rest of the survivors. It was a truly humbling experience, and we learned to support and protect each other. I thank that citizens of Metropolis and the world that upheld the beliefs I stand by in my absence. And thank you for the prayers you said for those of us who were missing, presumed dead. It was that hope and your prayers that kept us going. To those we met on the planet, aided us and helped us return, we can never truly repay their kindness or efforts, but we can strive to better ourselves in memory of their good will. And now if I can take my leave. I'd love a hot shower and a clean set of clothes."

The news segment crossed back to the studio and Chloe tuned out as she studied her hands, that were currently wringing the dish towel into one long rope. She released it and felt herself trembling all over. She was relieved, she was happy, excited even to see that Lois and Clark were safe, but it made so many anxieties she'd never dreamed she'd have to face come to light. She suspected that Clark had roped Oliver in to operate the android look-alike he had stashed at the Fortress. It had still been in testing stages when he'd disappeared. Obviously he hadn't trusted it to operate as required unsupervised so he must have taken Oliver to the Fortress to man the remote control interface. It would explain why his tracker had dropped out for a while. You could rarely get good signals out of the Arctic Circle.

Her phone started buzzing and she looked at the Caller ID. It was Perry. She didn't want to answer, but after ignoring it twice, she realized he wasn't going to give up.

"Hello?"

_"Kid, I'm between a rock and a hard place. Please tell me you can help me out?"_

"Despite what's all over the news, I've still got my hands full, Chief." Chloe rolled her eyes. She was beginning to understand why he never stayed married for very long. He was all work and drive, she wondered if the man ever slept.

_"I know that, and now that Lois and Kent are back, they'll handle the kid and their old jobs. Got off the phone with your producer, the co-anchor's got Lois booked for Monday night, so you're all free up. And I need you on a plane to Oman, ASAP."  
_  
"Chief, Lois just got back. I need to see my cousin before I can up and leave."

_"You've got four hours, Sully. I need an answer in four hours. Our President, Sultan Qaboos ibn Sa'id, Crown Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are going to be in talks from Tuesday morning to address the growing unrest in the Middle East. Qaboon's administration asked specifically for you. I told them that you're not in the international division anymore but they insisted. I don't want to have to tell these guys you won't be covering the meet."  
_  
Choe pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. Her foreign desk replacement, Fiona Woodward would be fuming, not to mention any one of their reporters in their Political division would trade their firstborns to be in a room with any of these men. Less than three months ago, she'd be packing already and booking her flight to Muscut in a heartbeat. Her priorities had changed, her heart lay elsewhere. Like right now, instead of wondering how she could talk Perry out of strong arming her, she was aching to know why Oliver wasn't back yet. Clark had just appeared with Lois in the living room, and they were currently being enveloped by a group hug. Elara squished between them.

"I have to go, Chief. I'll call you with my answer in four hours."

_"Kid, you better..."_

At the risk of having him blow up at her later, she ended the call and turned her cell off for good measure. She didn't need any more of his hassling. A warm familiar hand grasped her shoulder and she blinked back tears while she turned and embraced Lois with all the emotion currently threatening to overwhelm her.

"We thought you were dead. What took you so long to get back? And that news spiel was it just smoke or is it all true?"

"About 90% truth," Lois said with a gentle laugh, tears brimming in her eyes as she leaned back to survey her cousin. "We didn't exactly go to another planet. Just our planet, in the future. And you'll be happy to know that the real Clark and the League is off dealing with that problem right now, so that no one will ever have to see that wasteland of a planet again." Lois shuddered. "Giant bugs, no people, not counting a slightly crazed immortal, wild dogs the size of bears and it's so cold at night we almost froze to death. We lived on a packet of raisins, two teething rusks and a bottle of water between us for the first three days. By the end of the third day we managed to find the fallen Watchtower and that's how the mad genius tracked us down. The rest is well just filler till we could get back home."

"So time travel?" Chloe pressed. Lois nodded. "So why not come back the day you disappeared?"

Lois sighed. "After we realized what happened, and that first and second night. I thought that if we ever did managed to get back, you guys would have already gone through the grief and the legal stuff and while when Savage explained we could go back to the point in time following our shift from the timeline, I wanted you guys to have a chance."

"Lois," Chloe groaned.

Lois smiled at her encouragingly. "From the looks of things, you two have done even better than Clark would have me believe," she responded with a wink. "I knew you two were perfect for each other. I needed to give you guys a chance. So even though we could have come back the day it happened, I couldn't take that away from you guys. I love you both."

"Oh Lo," Chloe said choking up. She hugged her cousin again and blinked back tears. "You don't know the half of what we went through. And by the way, your insurance premium's gone up and you lost about ¾ of your possessions because it turns out, Elara's a little fire bug. Granted, we're pretty sure how you can control it until puberty now, and you might want to talk to Clark about taking her to Jor-El anyway, until she can control her abilities on her own."

Lois nodded. "Clark and I did talk about that while we were away. And honestly, I was more worried about Elara accidentally hurting you guys or outing herself than anything else. I'm just so glad you guys managed fine."

Chloe chuckled nervously. "We did alright."

Lois regarded her knowingly. "So why do I get the feeling there's a huge but coming and you're planning a strategic Lane defensive move?"

The General had done it when Ella died. Chloe's mom had done it when she'd discovered that she had a dangerous illness, Lois had almost done it when Clark had proposed, too afraid of what might happen to her if she married him and she lost him again, and Lois noticed tell-tale signs that preceded a flight in her cousin now.

"Perry's given me an assignment of a life-time and I'll probably get to do a follow-up piece from last year on the political ties in the Middle East and the Oman and Saudi Arabian dynasties while I'm at it."

"Chloe?" The Superman android, currently dressed as a civilian and posing as Clark Kent framed the doorway to the kitchen. And Chloe knew instinctively that it was Oliver talking from the tone of concern conveyed in the robot's voice.

It was Clark's voice, and the android lacked the appropriate expression to match, but Chloe immediately felt nervous at his presence, knowing that Oliver could see her through the video feed relayed through the cameras in the robot's eyes.

"The android's flying back here, and once it gets back I'm going to use the portal to Smallville. Wait for me. We need to talk."

Chloe folded her arms over chest and nodded. The android hesitated, watching her stoically.

"Lois?" he said throwing her a pleading tone.

"She'll be here," Lois promised. With a tilt of his head as acceptance, the android blurred away.

When the real Clark Kent returned from setting things right with their time's Vandal Savage- the man who was immortal in the future, as penance for his actions in the past, who was also responsible for building the time machine that sent them back. Still dressed in his ragged Superman uniform, Clark was greeted by the same group hug as Lois had previously.

He crossed to the kitchen and swept Chloe off her feet. "I thanked Oliver when we were planning the double duty press meet but Chloe, I can't thank you enough for watching out for Elara while we were gone. Lois was adamant that you guys could handle it, but I know how much of a handful I was for my parents and Elara is so much more..."

Chloe put her hand to Clark's cheek to stop his rambling. "She's my goddaughter. Lois is like a sister to me and you're my best friend, how could we not be there for her?"

Clark hugged her again and kissed her forehead. "If there's anyone we knew could count on, it's you, Chloe."

:::

Oliver had been trying Chloe's phone all the walk back to Main Street with no luck, it kept going straight to voicemail. As he climbed into the waiting town car he'd arranged to pick him up from Smallville, he decided to try Lois instead.

She picked up after the fourth ring. "_Hello,_" she answered with a breathless happy sigh.

"Lois, is Chloe around?"

_"Ollie?"_ Lois said in surprise. _"Where are you, do you want Clark to come pick you up?"  
_  
"Lois, it's fine. I'm already on my way back. I'll be there in about two hours, doesn't look like much traffic tonight. It'll be a clear run to you."

_"Ollie," _Lois started hesitantly.

"Lois," Oliver warned, knowing she was about to say something he wouldn't like. Probably stalling for her cousin. Oliver knew if it came down to it, Lois would always put Chloe's wishes before any sense of loyalty to him. "Put Chloe on the phone."

_"I can't, Ollie. She's not here."  
_  
"What?"  
_  
"She went to your apartment to pack a suitcase. She's going to..."_

Oliver growled. "To go where?"

"Oliver, she's just going on assignment. She'll be back," Lois pleaded, hoping he'd understand that all Chloe needed was a little time to sort out how she was feeling, but she could hear his heavy breathing and she knew he probably wasn't listening to a word she was saying anymore.

"I'll talk to you later, Lois." Oliver hung up and called his apartment instead.

The line wouldn't connect and he checked his service. He had no bars. He asked the driver for the sat. phone, and when he got through the machine picked up. Oliver growled into the handset in frustration.

"Chloe, if you're there, we need to talk. Please call me, or turn on your phone!"

He redirected his driver to the Clocktower and continued to call her cell with no luck.

:::

Three hours later, Chloe had called Perry to confirm that she was taking the assignment and told him what time her flight was due to land in Muscat so that the Sultan's administration could arrange a representative to meet her.

"Continental Airlines Flight CO8292 to Muscat is now boarding at Gate 23."

She picked up her bag and when her phone rang again, she instinctively answered without checking the ID, thinking that Perry was calling her back with her contact's details.

"So who am I meeting?"

_"Why are you running?"_ came his clipped, agitated query.

"Ollie?" Chloe said startled.

_"Yeah, I've only been trying to call you for the past three hours. Why was your phone off?"_

Chloe sighed at his huffy tone and rolled her eyes. "Because I didn't want Perry hassling me. I told him I'd think it over and give him my answer before the deadline, and I have. Oliver, I think..."

_"Don't Oliver this, Chloe. We both know what you're doing and I just don't get it. I thought we went over this before we decided to get into a relationship. How can I prove to you that this isn't just some role play for me?"_

Chloe clenched her fist at the pain in his voice. "Ollie, I'm not running. I'm not. With Lois and Clark back, we've gotta start thinking about the future. Things have changed. This is an assignment that will restart my career working the foreign desk and as a serious journalist again. I need to do this. And besides, you were headed back to Star City at the end of the week anyway. You might as well go a little earlier and catch up with friends. You said you haven't done that since this all started. Maybe you could even fit in a little more emerald leather work, I know you've been itching to really spend a decent amount of time with it and you haven't had a chance with the schedule we had to commit to before."

Oliver let out a long breath, while she made a good argument, he knew it was all just part of her defense mechanism. _"You couldn't wait until I got back? Chloe, I love you."_

Chloe felt her heart skip a beat. She knew if she'd waited, he would have been able to talk her out of leaving. He would have been able to make her forget why she needed this with one simple touch. Just one pleading look, and she'd forget about anything changing. She closed her eyes. But things had changed. Elara wasn't their responsibility anymore. They had to live their own lives again. "Just give it one week, Ollie. If you're sure you still feel the same after a week..." she paused her heart beat racing a mile a minute. "If you still think love me, the way you think you do, then we'll talk. I have to go."

_"Chloe, wait..."_ He wanted to protest further but he heard a dial tone and when he tried to call her back, it went straight to her message service again. He swore and hurled his phone across the limo.

The driver idled nervously at the wheel. "Am I taking you somewhere else, sir?"

Oliver put his face in his hands and ran them dejectedly through his hair. He took a deep breath and then met the other man's eyes. If he wanted to prove to Chloe that his feelings were genuine, that they wouldn't change no matter what ridiculous stipulations she put on him, then he would have to respect her call. He had to last a week. His fingers itched to touch his Watchtower comm. If he hitched a ride, he might just make it to her gate before her plane left. But he had to find out where she was going first. There was no way he was going to last a week. With a grimace in agony at the thought, he shook his head. "No, I'm done for the night, Ross. Thank you."

:::

One week later, Chloe looked at her reflection in the hotel mirror and glanced at her phone. She tried not to think about the fact that she hadn't heard from Oliver once since that call at the airport, and the only call she'd received today was from Lois asking when she'd be back in town and Perry to confirm that she was attending the Silver Ribbon Awareness Gala for the Cancer Research UK. At $500 dollars a ticket and anyone who was anyone in the corporate and socialite London circle guaranteed in-attendance, it was not only a cause worthy of promotion through one of the world's leading print mediums but an opportunity for her to pick the brains of the elite and wealthy.

She smoothed down the many layers of her navy blue organza gown, and picked up her long silk wrap. She wouldn't dwell on the fact that he hadn't called. She'd predicted this, even prepared herself for it. It was why she'd encouraged him to go back to Star City and resume his normal life. The life he'd had before her, before having to shoulder the responsibility of raising a child that wasn't his. She hadn't wanted to trap him into a relationship that had no real reason to continue under the circumstances it had developed under. And above all, she hadn't wanted to watch him become disillusioned with their relationship, with her.

Picking up her silver clutch, she tucked her phone into it, and collected her room key. Just as she closed the hotel room door, her phone buzzed. Taking it out. She read the message;

_I have a car waiting for you. Please meet me. Ollie._

Her heart skipped a beat and she felt her flush with nervousness. He hadn't forgotten, and he'd tracked her down. What other possible reason could he have for being here? While he did have trading partners in England, she knew he hadn't had a trip planned on his schedule before. They'd both memorized each others schedules so that they could tag team looking after Elara and fit Oliver's Green Arrow patrols in.

Sure enough, there was a driver waiting for her in the hotel lobby with a sign that read, _Chloe Sullivan_.

She got in the limo hesitantly. "Can I ask where we're going?" she queried of the driver.

He shook his head. "I'm not at liberty to say," he answered cryptically. "However, Mr. Queen did suggest that if you had prior arrangements for your evening, that you might like to cancel them."

Chloe blinked rapidly as she slid into the seat and the door was closed behind her. He was hijacking her plans? She had half a mind to tell the driver to let her out and message him back, saying that she couldn't cancel. But the other half of her was excited that he did want her company. And for a whole evening. That wasn't even touching on the innate curiosity he'd peaked by not revealing any of his plans to her.

With hands shaking with barely concealed apprehension, she dialed a familiar number. It picked up straight away.

_"Let me guess, you're cashing in that favor I owe you?"_ her magician extraordinaire friend, Zatanna Zatara answered.

Chloe grinned at how she'd already anticipated what she was going to ask. "I need you to put on your performer's hat Zee, and pull off the illusion of being Chloe Sullivan for the night. Dress for the Silver Ribbon Awareness Gala in London and record everything for me. You're going to the ball. I'll send you the details by text."

Zatanna chuckled. _"Boy, you don't give a girl much time to prepare do you?"_

"As though we both don't know you like to live a little dangerously, Zee. Thanks a billion. We're square now."

_"I won't disappoint, and who knows I might actually enjoy myself,"_ she said with a smile in her voice.

Chloe grinned, of that she had no doubt. Zatanna always knew how to have fun. Zee would do the leg work for her and she'd write up the article once she reviewed the video. No one would be the wiser and she was free to meet Oliver.

The limo pulled up and Chloe looked out the window. Outside she could see the bottom of the London Eye. The capsules and great wheel were light up with blue lights, and she could see a tall figure standing patiently by the entrance gate.

Her pulse quickened and by the time she got out and walked the short distance to meet him, her heart was galloping like a racehorse.

"Do you know how many times I wanted to say, screw a week and hunt you down?" he said softly, his eyes roaming over her with appreciation. "I'd like to think this was for me, but I know you were supposed to attend the Gala tonight. It's how I knew where you'd be."

Chloe nodded. "Don't worry, I've got it covered. I'm all yours," she caught herself then, and chewed her lip, her hands curling into her purse tightly.

Oliver pried one hand free and threaded his fingers with hers. "I booked out the whole place, set up a private candle-lit dinner for us. I hope that proves to you that I'm serious. Chloe, nothing's changed for me."

Chloe shivered and blinked back tears that threatened to fall. She stopped their progress for the capsule with the open door, the wheel operator waiting for them. "Ollie," she started, looking up at him. "I love you and I'm sorry I didn't... it's just before there was Elara. We were both committed to her and I thought..."

"I know what you thought, Chloe. I'm just hurt you didn't have more faith in us, in me."

Being with him again, feeling the warmth of his skin on hers, seeing the look in his eyes as he watched her, she wondered how she'd ever even doubted him. But it had been years of having other people's priorities take precedent, of burying her feelings, guarding her heart against disappointment that had her running, instead of taking a chance of being heart broken in the future. She'd fallen in love with him, and while they'd had Elara, she never thought it was even a possibility that he'd ever walk away, not when they'd so cautiously made the decision to take the leap and open up to each other, to start a relationship based on the fact that they were both committed to loving and raising this little girl together. With that bond taken away, she'd realized that she'd been using Elara as a safety net. Without the safety net, she hadn't been so sure anymore.

"Forget what's past, I want you to think about the future. Our future," he said reading her expression.

He urged her to continue walking, and with him smiling breathtakingly at her, his hand secure around hers, Chloe forgot her anxieties and just let herself feel. Trusting that this man, who she'd come to understand, to admire and love, wouldn't break her heart.

They'd finished an exquisite candlelight dinner and now sat on the day bed facing the city and the river down below. The sight of the night sky, dotted with stars was incredibly magical and she found herself leaning back into his chest, as his arms tightened around her waist.

"Do you have any idea how badly I missed you?" he whispered against the bare skin of her shoulder.

Chloe felt her body tighten in sensual awareness at the touch of his lips and she reached up to run her fingers through his hair, cupping his neck, anchoring him close. "The days I had so many things to keep me busy, distract me from thinking about you. But at night, I missed how you'd kiss me, how more often than not we'd make love before you went out on patrol..."

Oliver kissed the thundering pulse point in her neck and Chloe let out a shuddering breath. She turned in his arms and studied his face, he stared back at her wanting more than anything to strip her down and take her right there but he waited. This was about her. He needed to know that she wanted this as much as he did.

Chloe touched his cheek and leaned up, capturing his lips in a tentative kiss. He let her mouth drift lightly over his for a moment, relishing the fact that this was all her, reliving the taste, the feel of her caress. He closed his eyes and parted his lips, her kiss went deeper, harder, her tongue finding his and he kissed her back, passionately. Pouring all the want, need and desire into that kiss.

He pulled her down, and reached under her hair for the zipper of her dress. They made love while overlooking the city below. Afterward, as Chloe lay dozing against his chest, Oliver reached into his jacket and pulled out the small black leather box. He opened the snap and stared at the large princess cut diamond inside. It was his mother's ring, he couldn't imagine any other woman wearing it but Chloe and he never wanted to. His mother would have liked Chloe. In a way she reminded him a bit of his mother, beside the physical attributes - blonde hair, pale creamy skin, warm bright easy smile, they were both big hearted and unequivocally ambitious. But her independence and stubborn spirit was one of the character traits that he loved most about her, she stood up to him and she was always honest with him. There was never any pretense. He closed the box and tucked it back in his jacket. He rubbed his hand over her back and roused her. He hated to do it, she looked so peaceful but they only had the place till midnight. Besides, he didn't want anyone disturbing them. Right now, he wasn't ready to share his time with her, for anyone.

They made their way back to his hotel, shared a shower and made love again before falling asleep in each others arms.

Oliver rose with the sun as he always did, and ordered her up a mochachino with three sugars, along with a traditional English Breakfast for two. He couldn't stop smiling as he watched her, it was the first time she hadn't crept away from him during the night.

He'd called her on it while they lived together and she said she didn't want to confuse Elara. He'd wondered what she'd meant, but now he realized she was old fashioned at heart. Like she would probably have never slept with him under her Dad's roof, she probably felt weird about doing it when Elara might catch them. He hoped what he was about to do next would remedy that problem permanently.

He showered and dressed in jeans and a white button-down shirt. He was drying his hair when there was a short knock on the door and Oliver answered it. It was her coffee and the breakfast cart. He tipped the porter and took the coffee to the bedroom. Waving it near her face, it had the desired effect. She rolled onto her back and blinked up at him sleepily, a smile creeping over her face.

"You're real," she whispered happily. "And so's the coffee." She took it from him and sat up, bunching the sheets over her chest and stretching up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you." Self consciously she ran her hand through her hair in attempt to tidy it, while she sipped her coffee and blushed when she found him still watching her. "What is it?"

"You're beautiful," he said with a grin.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. "I probably smell and I'll make a really good entry to the bird's nest competition with my hair."

"My eyes, my assessment. You can believe what you like," he teased before his eyes turned serious. "I have something to ask you and I really hope you say yes." He pulled out the box and watched her eyes widen and her hands shake as she slowly lowered her coffee cup. "Chloe, marry me. I want us to be together the rest of our lives. Please say yes." He snapped open the clasp and showed her the glittering diamond with delicately stylized platinum band.

Chloe blinked rapidly and turned to set her coffee cup down, using the moment of broken eye contact to try to compose herself but it was futile. The tears fell anyway. She threw her arms around his neck, and laughed nervously, giddily into his shoulder.

Oliver coughed nervously and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Is that a yes?"

Chloe nodded against him and bit her lip, pulling back slowly to kiss his lips and hold his face between her hands. "I'm worried that I'm still dreaming now, but yes."

Oliver pinched her bottom under the sheet and she yelped. "Real enough for you?" he teased with a wink. He took her hand and slid on the ring, it was a perfect fit. He turned her hands over and kissed her palms tenderly, she was still self conscious about the fine scars that remained, but to him they were a mark of her beauty, her selfless and kind-hearted soul and a reminder of when he'd seen the light. That he'd fallen for her unique brand of brash charm and that there was no rescuing him from where his heart now lay.

:::

Not two weeks later, they were married at Kiyomizu-dera Temple in Kyoto, surrounded by falling cherry blossoms. For their honeymoon, Oliver took her trekking through the Himalayas where he'd attended an ashram early in his youth, after he'd begun his work as Green Arrow. Being over confident in his abilities, he'd been shown up by another archer and he realized he need further discipline, focus and a little humility. The ashram had been high in the mountains and touched with tranquil beauty, the view absolutely breathtaking, the snow-capped mountains truly picturesque. Chloe had absolutely adored the place.

They spent a month together, traveling and enjoying sights and when she'd called Lois to tell her that they'd gotten married her cousin had squealed her delight before starting in on how disappointed she was that she hadn't been invited. Chloe had apologized but explained how their relationship had been initiated by her and then further manipulated, she said they need time alone together to appreciate what was between them, to make sure it was real. Lois grudgingly accepted that.

Returning from their trip, Chloe and Oliver decided that they'd move back into his family home. It took a list longer than her arm of contractors and materials, and three grueling months of headaches and mishaps to transform from a mausoleum back into a family home, but the look on Oliver's face when she'd unveiled it had been worth it. He hadn't lived there since his parents died and the place had remained untouched, becoming run down, over grown, insect and rodent, dust ridden over the long years. With her credentials it had been easy to land a job with the Star City Gazette and while she knew she'd miss Metropolis, the Daily Planet and family and friends, she'd miss being with Oliver a whole lot more and seeing how at ease he was and the warm smile that was always on his face when he was walking around the city, Chloe didn't want to ask him to give up his home town again.

**Less than a year later**

The brightly-colored cone-shaped party hat sat perched precariously to the side on her head, Elara leaned forward to blow out the candles on her cake.

Chloe stood at the other end of the table as she took in the scene. A twinge of nostalgia washing over her as she felt the deja vu of the picture playing out again. Only this time she was surrounded by the family she loved, and the man she married had one arm firmly hooked around her waist while he video taped over her shoulder.

"Happy Birthday, Elara," they all chorused as she grinned triumphantly at the now flame-less candles and completely stationary cake.

When Chloe saw Lois heading off in the direction of the kitchen, she gave Oliver's hand a quick squeeze before following after her cousin.

The brunette was digging through the fridge when Chloe paused by the kitchen island. "Lois, do you have a sec?"

"Of course!" Lois nudged the fridge door shut with her hip before placing the drinks on the counter. "What's up?"

"Oliver and I...we wanted to know if you'd agree to be our baby's godmother." Chloe bit down on the urge to point out it was what Lois and Clark should have done too, instead of just springing it on them, but when she'd talked to some of the friends at work discussing the issue of wills and guardians, she realized that it wasn't the sort of thing you could easily bring up and that most of the time people who weren't married and didn't have kids didn't understand the need for a will or guardians and freaked at the thought. Being that they'd seen how invaluable those few sheets of paper where in not only protecting Clark and Lois' wishes but ensuring Elara's care and providing for her future, Chloe and Oliver hadn't wasted any time consulting a lawyer when they'd discovered their surprise pending arrival.

Lois' eyes bulged before she collected Chloe in a bear hug and proceeded to bounce around the kitchen. "I'm gonna be an aunt! We're having babies together. I knew it! I knew you were hiding something when we talked on the phone last week." Lois released her suddenly and narrowed her eyes at Chloe's stomach, which was only just showing now that Lois had stretched the material over her belly with her antics. "How far along are you?" she queried studying her cousin closely.

"8 weeks," Chloe said a slight tinge of pink coloring her cheeks. She hoped that Lois wouldn't do the math but had no such luck.

Lois' face broke out into a cheeky grin, and she called out to Oliver who was getting a hearty congratulations from Clark. "So now I know why nobody could get you on Valentine's Day, even though Watchtower was threatening to fall out of orbit. I guess if you're busy, you really are busy," she added with a wink.

Chloe groaned and put her face in her hands while Oliver merely grinned and returned Lois' wink. "I promised my wife a Valentine's Day she'd never forget. Did I make good on my promise, honey or what?"

Chloe red-faced, shook her head and left the kitchen to seek shelter from anymore of their teasing by scooping up Elara and kissing her cheek. Hiding her heated cheeks in the little girl's long curls. "What do you think, my sweet girl? Would you like a baby cousin?"

She nodded vigorously. "Two babies. Be my best friends. Mama getting me a baby brother."

Chloe looked up at Clark. "You guys already know the sex?"

Lois snorted. "I have my own personal radiologist who can see better than The Kepler Telescope. He's known for three weeks, but only told me when we went for our check up yesterday."

Lois was already six months along and had a nice round baby bump. Chloe on the other hand only felt fat and bloated, and a little uncomfortable when Oliver kept on kissing the pudginess and rubbing it all the time. She could see him eyeing her now. He came over and lifted Elara from her arms.

"She's getting too big for you, Chloe. Besides I don't want our little one getting squashed," he said, putting his hand protectively over her tummy.

Chloe rolled her eyes at his overprotective display. "It's the size of a grape, and nowhere near past my pelvic bone yet. I could roll around in the backyard with Shelby and we'd be absolutely fine." At his horrified look, she sighed and hugged him. "But I won't."

Oliver grinned at her teasing and kissed her temple. "Have I told you how beautiful you look today?"

Chloe snorted. "You're so full of crap."

"Chloe!" Clark scolded. His super-hearing tuning into the conversation even as Lois was rambling excitedly in his ear.

"Sorry Clark," Chloe offered but protested, "but it's true. He'd just wants to make sure he doesn't end up on the couch for suffocating me all the time. He was bad enough before I got pregnant- with you shouldn't take this assignment, they're connected to Intergang or the Triad. Or don't take that overseas assignment. I don't have a stealth jet like Bruce that can cross the globe in half a day, I won't be able to get to you quickly. Now he treats me like that Japanese dish Bart nearly broke over Christmas."

"That dish was created by the monks especially to commemorate our wedding day. I consider it priceless."

Chloe snickered but kissed his cheek. "You're such a romantic."

"And don't pretend you don't love it," he said to her, tapping her nose. He kissed her and when they parted, both Lois and Clark had grown quiet.

Lois coughed loudly. "In answer to your question before, Chlo. Yes, of course we'll be baby Queen's godparents. And oh, you do know that there's a plus one to the guardian clause we've already signed right?"

Chloe and Oliver shared a look of terror before it faded as they looked at Elara between them. They both looked over at Lois and Clark who were smiling at them hopefully.

"Ah guys, please make sure we never have to fulfill that duty, okay? One super-baby was enough. Two, even with the League as back up, I don't think we'd manage."

"That and we have our own on the way," Oliver added.

Lois smiled and grinned. "Oh don't worry about that. We got it covered. Visited Jor-El before we made this pumpkin and none of the kids will be doing anything out of the ordinary until they're in their teens."

"Like they don't have enough to go through in puberty as it is," Chloe snarked.

Clark chuckled uncomfortably. "True, but we just thought it was probably the safest for everyone. And it's kind of what he did with me when they sent me to earth. My powers developed gradually. Also if they don't want to have powers, that's also a choice they can chose to make. I never want them to feel like they don't have a choice either way."

Chloe happily embraced her cousin again and kissed Clark's cheek, beaming a bright smile as she turned back to Lois. "I still can't really believe we're pregnant, together. Honestly, a year ago, I never could have pictured it."

Lois squeezed Chloe's hands. "Even though you were horribly mean and got married without me, I'm honestly so happy for you guys. I always knew you'd make the perfect couple. My two bestest friends in the whole world." Lois plopped down on the couch and pulled Chloe down next to her.

"That's not even a word, Lo," Chloe chuckled.

"Oh pshaw. So tell me, when do we get to break out that platinum card of yours."

Clark groaned, and Oliver paled, while Chloe glanced back at her husband and saw his expression, chewed her bottom lip. "I might have gone a bit overboard already. Oliver says we should wait until we're a little further along before I do anymore shopping."

"Oh that's fine, we can still go buy stuff for Elara. Right, sweetheart," she said twirling the little girl's curls around her fingers as she crawled between them on the couch.

Clark clapped a hand over his face and took a deep breath. "Ever since we had to live in the same outfits for almost three months, she can't get enough of shopping. Sorry Ollie."

"No worries, Clark. With you guys back, I actually haven't had to shop much at all. Save for the nesting splurge Chloe went on when she found out she was pregnant. Which is weird because I thought that was supposed happen at like eight months or a week or two before the due date."

Clark shook his head. "These Sullivan-Lane women never did follow the norm, and they wouldn't be the women we fell in love with if they were. Don't try to understand it, just embrace it."

Oliver laughed. "You're right about that. She's perfect and I can't believe how good I got it in the end. Which is thanks partially to Lois and her crazy ideas."

Clark smiled. "But as she likes to keep reminding me. She's always right, and when it comes to the two of you, I have to agree. I've never seen her glow like that. You did that."

Chloe met Oliver's eyes and held his gaze over the top of Elara's head.

"I love you," she mouthed to him.

Oliver nodded, his eyes shining. "Not more than me," he mouthed back and watched her shake her head with a grin.

A little more than year ago their lives had been irrevocably changed by a devastating event and one orphaned baby girl. They'd grown slowly to appreciate, respect and finally fall in love with one another. Now he couldn't imagine his life without her in it. In a few months they'd be welcoming their own child into the world and even thought the thought of this tiny human being part Chloe and part of him, fragile, precious and 100% dependent on them terrified him, it also made his heart ache with happiness. He never thought he'd be this blessed, a beautiful wife, great friends, a selfless purpose, a mission to serve humanity. He was Green Arrow, Queen Industries CEO and friend to many, and protector for those who couldn't protect themselves but most important of all, he was a husband and soon-to-be father to his family. His family. That thought put an unshakable smile on his face.

FIN


End file.
